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Plain-language AI glossary

Term 42ApplicationsMeaning / context / connections

Applications / Definition

Text-to-Speech (TTS)

AI technology that converts written text into natural-sounding spoken audio, enabling voice interfaces and audio content generation.

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MeaningThe one-sentence definition.

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01 / Plain-language context

How Text-to-Speech (TTS) works.

Modern TTS has reached near-human quality. OpenAI's TTS API offers multiple voices with natural intonation and emotion. ElevenLabs provides voice cloning and multilingual synthesis. Google Cloud TTS supports 200+ voices across 40+ languages. These are not the robotic voices of old; current TTS output is often indistinguishable from human speech.

Integrating TTS into your app typically involves: (1) sending text to a TTS API, (2) receiving an audio file (MP3, WAV, or streaming audio), (3) playing it back to the user. For real-time conversational AI (like voice assistants), you stream TTS output so the AI starts speaking before the full response is generated.

For builders, TTS enables: voice-enabled AI assistants, audiobook and podcast generation, accessibility features for visually impaired users, language learning apps with pronunciation examples, and hands-free interfaces. Key considerations: voice selection (match your brand), latency (streaming vs. full generation), and cost (per-character pricing varies significantly across providers).

02 / Practical uses

Where it helps.

  1. 01Voice AI assistants
  2. 02Audiobook and podcast generation
  3. 03Accessibility features
  4. 04Language learning pronunciation
  5. 05Hands-free interfaces
03 / Keep exploring
Speech-to-Text (STT)AI technology that converts spoken audio into written text, enabling voice input, transcription, and voice-controlled interfaces.Multimodal AIAI models that can process and generate multiple types of data: text, images, audio, video, and code.StreamingA method of receiving AI model output token-by-token in real time as it is generated, rather than waiting for the complete response.Natural Language Processing (NLP)The branch of AI focused on enabling computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language in useful ways.