Unlocking the potential of AI voice assistants in education

AI voice assistants are often used for practical applications like playing songs or receiving weather updates. However, their potential in the educational sphere should not be underestimated. The right AI assistant app can significantly enhance the learning and teaching process for students, teachers, lecturers, and parents.

• Rapid advancements in AI tools have resulted in a friendly yet powerful tool - the AI voice assistant.
• Aside from many practical benefits, these virtual assistants can greatly benefit everyone in the educational sphere, including students of all ages, teachers, lecturers, and parents.
• We've compiled a list of key benefits that will encourage you to integrate AI virtual assistants on your path to reaching your educational milestones.

What is an AI voice assistant?

AI voice assistants are programs that use natural language processing and speech recognition to process and respond to user commands. Sometimes referred to as AI virtual assistants, the two are not synonymous.

Although AI voice assistants fall under the umbrella of virtual assistants, they function through voice commands, while other assistants, such as chatbots, respond to text-based commands.

Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence have given birth to the modern AI voice assistant powered by comprehensive machine learning, including text and speech recognition, natural language processing, natural language understanding, dialogue management, natural language generation, personalization, and continuous learning.

In other words, your AI voice assistant is trained to recognize, understand, and vocally respond to your questions and commands. This unique capability has led to various applications for AI assistants, from daily routine management to starting your own podcast, educational purposes to personal use.

Examples of prominent AI voice assistants

Even if you're unfamiliar with the technical terminology, you've probably heard of or come across several AI voice assistant apps over the last few years, including Google Assistant (addressed by the famous "Hey Google" phrase), Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Samsung's Bixby.

Many mobile users rely on the aforementioned AI assistants to organize their daily tasks and find helpful information such as weather updates, directions, common knowledge questions, and playing music through smart speakers.

As AI technology continues to advance, the applications of virtual assistants also multiply, with one such application being education. In this article, we review various applications of a personal virtual assistant, including educational purposes!

The various applications of AI voice assistants

Powered by advanced machine learning and conversational AI, voice assistants have transformed the way people navigate their daily lives. From practical assistance to knowledge enhancement, these pocket-sized personal assistants can be used for various purposes.

Let's explore the applications of voice assistants and their advanced AI features in more detail.

Information retrieval

Whether you want to know the chances of rain in your area or the birth year of a famous singer, most AI assistants are capable of processing and responding to many types of questions.

From simple queries like "What's the temperature outside?" and "Can you recommend a local Pizza place?" to general knowledge questions, having an AI assistant is like owning a personal dictionary, radio, thermometer, map, and knowledge base in one virtual companion (in fact, it's exactly like that!).

Likewise, you can also rely on your personal AI assistant to provide you with global information, such as important news updates, extreme weather warnings, political changes, and more.

Routine management

From creating to-do lists to setting reminders to calculating your budget for the day, your AI virtual assistant can take the weight of planning off your shoulders and assist you with building your daily schedule.

With an AI assistant in your pocket (or on the counter), you can send a text, make a phone call, look up a recipe, send an email, check your bank balance, or set a reminder, all in a couple of minutes.

Additionally, AI assistants can offer eCommerce-related support, such as adding items to a shopping list, ordering groceries or other products online, tracking shipments and deliveries, and even comparing products and services.

Smart home control

If you own several smart home devices, your AI assistant can provide you with smart home control (also referred to as smart home management).

Whether you want to play music through your smart speakers, adjust thermostat settings, switch lights on or off, lock or unlock doors, turn on your smart vacuum cleaner, manage your security cameras, or control smart plugs/switches, you can complete these actions with just one voice command.

By incorporating AI voice assistants and smart devices into your home and linking them, you can boost productivity and get more done during the day.

Navigation and travel

Traveling can be a stressful endeavor, but an advanced virtual assistant can make organization and navigation significantly easier.

From booking flights, transportation, and accommodation to setting reminders and alarms to navigating new destinations, an AI voice assistant can assist you throughout your journey and help you plan ahead.

Entertainment

Alongside increased productivity and improved planning, a reliable AI assistant can offer you easier access to recreational activities for a healthy work-life balance.

From playing music to controlling smart TVs to posting on social media, smart assistants offer endless possibilities when it comes to entertainment.

You can use your voice assistant app to look up recipes, explore workout routines, play trivia games, listen to guided meditations, or do whatever other activity strikes your fancy on a particular evening or weekend.

You could even turn your book into an audiobook, have an AI voice read out your homework, or even clone your voice to perform a presentation! The possibilities are endless with text to speech AI voice tools.

Education and learning

Aside from the applications listed above, AI voice assistants can also be used for educational and learning purposes.

Examples include learning new languages, improving general knowledge, solving complex tasks or homework assignments, reading PDF files or audiobooks, setting studying and exam reminders, staying up-to-date on deadlines, and more.

Continue reading to learn more about the applications of voice assistants in education.

Uses of AI voice assistants in education

Advancements in artificial intelligence have improved and upgraded many spheres of our lives, and learning is no exception. AI-powered virtual assistants, particularly voice assistants, can enhance and even transform how we learn.

AI assistants already have many applications in education, from solving complex tasks to assisting with learning multiple languages.

Let's explore some of these uses further.

Language learning

How we learn languages has evolved, and artificial intelligence is often incorporated into this equation.

Most AI voice assistants can help translate sentences or explain the meaning behind specific grammatical nuances or local phrases, making language learning more accessible than ever. After all, the best way to learn a new language is to apply it in daily life, and AI assistants help language learners achieve this effortlessly, whether through dubbing, listening, or more.

Problem-solving assistance

Aside from general knowledge base enhancement, some AI-powered virtual assistants are excellent at solving problems. This feature can help students with complex homework assignments or understand a topic they are behind on.

Improved accessibility

From visual impairments to reading difficulties to concentration issues, many students, regardless of their age, may require additional assistance or adjustments regarding their educational endeavors.

Fortunately, AI voice assistants can help students experiencing various learning difficulties and make learning more accessible. Likewise, international students can significantly benefit from AI voice assistants, given their multilingual and translation features.

General knowledge enhancement

Have you ever had a burning question, only for it to slip your mind as soon as you've opened Google? AI voice assistants are excellent for answering general knowledge questions, especially if it's something you want to know immediately.

AI teaching assistants

AI teaching assistants can enhance the learning experience of many students while simultaneously assisting teachers without additional help from a human teaching assistant.

One key area where we already see this happening is in language learning, where students require conversation practice and listening skills to learn. AI software like the ElevenLabs multi-language text to speech tool can help students learn key language skills, like pronunciation, listening, and comprehension, all with just one screen.

Imagine converting one Spanish sentence into a Mexican accent, a Spanish accent, and a Colombian accent, then analysing the differences. Imagine coverting your favorite YouTuber's content into perfect Portuguese to practice listening for your exam. Imagine reviving 'lost' languages, and preserving unique Indigenous tongues for academic study, all through the power of AI. That's what ElevenLabs can do - check it out below.

To-do lists and reminders

Teachers, lecturers, and students of all ages can benefit from additional assistance with time management. Creating to-do lists and essential reminders are critical aspects of successful teaching or studying, yet teachers and students alike often feel overwhelmed, resulting in missed deadlines.

Thankfully, you can ask your AI assistant to note a task or reminder down the second it pops into your head. No more stressing about daily routines or remembering deadlines.

Reading documents, assignments, and audiobooks

Whether you need to get through a ten-page PDF file for your upcoming exam as a university student, do your summer reading as a school pupil, or mark thirty-one essays as a (slightly overwhelmed) teacher, AI voice assistants have come to the rescue - combined with natural text to speech tools, of course.

Advanced TTS tools incorporating natural language processing like ElevenLabs allow you to easily convert written text to audio files and download them, allowing you to listen to them whenever it is convenient.

Pair that with your trusty voice assistant, and you're ready to enhance how you consume written content for educational purposes, whether a lengthy PDF file or an audiobook for your summer reading obligations.

Personalized assistance

Unlike human teachers and lecturers, who need breaks, AI voice assistants can support pupils and students 24/7.

Whether students need help solving homework questions, brainstorming written assignments, or doing extra exam prep, virtual assistants can provide round-the-clock support for students of all ages, from elementary school to PhD programs.

Prefer to learn about Shakespeare in British English? Like revising your biology exam prep, but just as an audio file? It's all possible with AI voices, where you can customize your entire learning experience to your ears.

Administrative assistance

Managing administrative tasks like class schedules, attendance records, school fees, and educational trips can become tiring quickly. Luckily for teachers and administrative workers, AI voice assistants can help automate many of those tasks.

Whether you need to organize data points into a list, create a schedule for the upcoming week, or send important emails, virtual assistants can help you do that via a couple of voice commands.

Final thoughts

It can't be denied that advanced artificial intelligence solutions have resulted in significant breakthroughs in many spheres, including education.

AI voice assistants, in particular, can benefit the education system by addressing the needs of students and teachers. From solving complex problems to setting reminders to everything in between, everyone in the education system can benefit significantly from incorporating AI-powered voice assistants into their daily routines regarding education and learning.

Whether you're a teacher, student, principal, or parent, consider exploring the capabilities of virtual assistants. Make sure to test out several voice assistants and choose one that best suits your or your student's needs.

Good luck!

Ready to start experimenting with AI teaching assistants? Give ElevenLabs a try today.

FAQs