Airman00,
I'm working on a similar experiment with my robot Nina! The experiment is this: She will have both predefined phrases to recognize, and also a "free speech 'learning' algorithm.'" In this algorithm, you speak into the microphone while dictation is on, then the program captures that text, modifies it, and produces a response for Text to Speech.
Right now I have her predefined phrases in her program no sweat! I can predefine anything I want her to listen for and she'll reply with text. But since its summer in central California and its HOT outside, prohibiting me from doing construction work on Nina, I have a ton of time for her programming on my hands. I decided I wanted a little more articulation with Nina's A.I. so I develeoped an outline for this "free speech 'learning' algorithm."
I don't expect it to sound too 'real' or 'human' like you say, but it is fun to try out. I have a digital file of the English dictionary downloaded on my computer system, so I can speak just about any word, and Nina will understand (get's better the more you use Microsoft Speech Recognition). Right now what I've accomplished is little, but I can get her to listen for phrases and them repeat them, sort of like a copy cat
I can also say to her "I love you" and she'll reply, "You love me" using this free speech dictation algorithm. But it still has some bugs in it. When I tell you, "You love me" she replies, "Me love me." So the program has a bit of a ways to go.
Now for the 'Learning' part of the program. One of the main goals in my project is to get Nina to capture certain words in a sentence and add them to a list in her programming. (Of course the words are already in that dictionary on the system, but they have no value at first" The goal is to get her to ask a question when you introduce a new word (I'd imagine she'll be a lot like a child asking 'why' all the time, but oh well). For example, if I say "Cheese" somewhere in a sentence, she'll pull up predefined text for a question and ask "What is cheese?" she might accidentally ask, "Who is Cheese?" but I can theoretically respond. "No, 'what' is cheese" Once she spot the word "What" is the text, she rephrases "Cheese" to classify it as a "thing." And she'll pull up predefined text and say "Oh, then 'what' is 'cheese'" I can respond. "'cheese' is a dairy product" and she'll add that string to "cheese" and give it a value. "I see, 'cheese is a dairy product.'" After this, she saves her programming.
With modern A.I. I think its inevitable for robots to sound perfectly human. But that's what makes them more interesting a unique kind of way. Robots are their own kind of creatures, with their own workings and their own mechanical "intelligence."
Loren
