Guide to Training AI Voice Agents for Accurate Pronunciation

AI voice models rely on context, spelling, and phonetic patterns to determine pronunciation. Sometimes, the way a word is written affects how it’s spoken. This guide provides strategies for ensuring correct pronunciation in AI-generated speech.

Typical AI Voice Pronunciation Scenarios

AI voice platforms generally perform well with common pronunciations but can struggle with words that have multiple pronunciations depending on context. Here’s a breakdown of how well AI voices typically handle these single-letter variations:

Usually Pronounced Correctly by Default

These are letters that AI voice models typically get right in most cases:

• C (/s/ vs. /k/): AI voices usually differentiate correctly based on context (e.g., ceiling vs. cat).
• G (/g/ vs. /dʒ/): AI usually distinguishes giant from go.
• I (/aɪ/ vs. /ɪ/): Generally gets ice vs. bit right.
• O (/oʊ/, /ɒ/, /ʌ/): Handles most cases like go, hot, and love well.
• S (/s/ vs. /z/): Usually correct in words like sit vs. rose.
• U (/juː/ vs. /ʌ/ vs. /uː/): Typically gets universe vs. cup vs. flu right.
• X (/ks/ vs. /z/): Usually knows box vs. xylophone automatically.

Sometimes Incorrect (Depends on Context)

These are cases where AI voice models sometimes mispronounce words:

• A (/eɪ/, /æ/, /ə/): AI often defaults to a long “A” (/eɪ/) or short “A” (/æ/) but sometimes struggles with schwa (/ə/) in unstressed syllables (e.g., sofa).
• E (/iː/, /ɛ/, silent): AI might mispronounce silent “E” if the word isn’t in its lexicon, especially in names or foreign words.
• T (/t/, /ʃ/, /ʔ/): AI sometimes misses the sh (/ʃ/) sound in words like nation. Glottal stops (/ʔ/) like in butter (American English) are often skipped unless the AI is trained for that dialect.

Example: A in “A Plus Transmissions” pronounced as “uh” Plus Transmissions.

Best Practice:

For brand names that include single letters, hyphenate or explicitly instruct the AI to pronounce the letter distinctly.

Most Challenging Cases

AI voices are most likely to mispronounce words when:

• Proper names are involved (e.g., Gervais, Xochitl).
• Loanwords from other languages (e.g., French or Spanish) change pronunciation rules.
• Regional accents/dialects affect pronunciation (e.g., American water vs. British wa’er with a glottal stop).
• Numbers that can be read in different ways.
• Certain symbols can be read literally instead of how they’re commonly spoken.

Best Practice:

• Use words instead of digits (e.g., “Twenty-Four Seven” instead of “24/7”).
• If needed, spell out phonetic versions (e.g., “Two-K” instead of “2000”).
• Use phonetic spelling if AI mispronounces words.
• Replace symbols with the word version (e.g., “and” instead of “&”).

How to Improve AI Pronunciation?

If an AI voice mispronounces something, AgentVoice often allow for:

• Phonetic spelling tweaks (e.g., “uh” instead of “a”).
• SSML (Speech Synthesis Markup Language) to force correct pronunciation.
• Training custom voices with corrected pronunciation for specific terms.