If you've been around Siri, Alexa, or any number of other devices, including most modern cars and TVs, you will know that computers can speak and listen. For example, you can use Alexa to order more dog food, ask Siri about the weather outside, or even talk to your car to get navigation guidance to your next appointment. They do this through what we refer to as speech synthesis and speech recognition. IBM has been at the forefront of this technology for decades.
This technology was first introduced by IBM in a product called VoiceType in 1997, and then in a more general product called ViaVoice in 1999 (for more information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_ViaVoice). Later, that same technology was licensed through ScanSoft, which then became Nuance. There is a useful library of information on the science of speech processing available at...
