Speaker Speed Adjust

Some people are fast talkers. Some are slow talkers. And some like Kai Ryssdal have mastered the right pace.

We've been experimenting with applying AI to adjust the speed at which a speaker is talking.

We've analyzed lots of videos to find an ideal average speed and are able to calculate how far off a speaker is from this standard. Early experiments have shown that viewers can benefit when the speed of speakers who are >5% slower/faster is auto-adjusted.

This can lead to a better viewer experience and less of the "increase speed/decrease speed" action that viewers have to take when they are listening to a speaker who is speaking at too fast/slow a pace.

Fun fact: Our CEO (Piyush Saggi) asked the team to calculate his speed and they found it to be slower than standard.

Note: In phase 1, we are defining "Standard" in the context of American speakers and viewers. We will eventually tune it for audiences in other countries.