South Dakota Mines Professor Awarded $200,000 for AI Speech-to-Text Accuracy Research
South Dakota Mines professor Nirmalya Thakur has received a $200,000 NSF-backed award to research improvements in AI speech-to-text technology accuracy, utilizing advanced computing resources to enhance transcription dependability.
Rapid City, SD, November 8, 2026 — A professor at South Dakota Mines has been awarded a significant grant to advance artificial intelligence technology.
Dr. Nirmalya Thakur, a professor at South Dakota Mines, has received a $200,000 award funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The research initiative is focused on enhancing the accuracy of AI-powered speech-to-text technology.
The project aims to leverage advanced computing resources to improve the dependability of transcription services. Accurate speech-to-text conversion is a critical component in numerous applications, including accessibility tools, voice assistants, and automated transcription of meetings and lectures. Challenges in current systems often arise from variations in accents, background noise, and complex vocabulary, leading to errors that can impede usability.
The NSF-backed award will enable Dr. Thakur and his research team to explore novel approaches and methodologies in AI signal processing and machine learning. By utilizing state-of-the-art computing infrastructure, the research seeks to push the boundaries of current AI capabilities in understanding and transcribing spoken language with greater precision. The ultimate goal is to make speech-to-text technologies more robust and reliable across a wider range of conditions and user inputs.
Story summarized from the original created by Mary Francis Witte on www.kotatv.com, see more information here.
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