SLPs Talk Tech

Most speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and our allied colleagues are unprepared for the AI tools sweeping through healthcare and education. In this episode, early adopter Mai Ling Chan exposes the hidden ethical pitfalls, the danger of AI hallucinations, and the isolation emerging tech can create in clinical practice. Discover how the same AI tools that promise efficiency may silently erode collaboration, credibility, and trust if we don't approach them with care. Mai Ling bridges her network of like minded disability advocates and thought leaders, advocating for ethical AI for clinicians and those we serve, and making sure we are inviting everyone to the table so that SLPs can feel informed and empowered in an AI-enabled world.

Main Topics Covered:

• Ethical considerations and the importance of a guided framework for AI use
• The impact of AI on collaboration and professional credibility
• Addressing hallucinations and errors in AI outputs. Hallucinations = Errors
• Workslop: Understanding inefficiencies introduced by AI workflows. Click here for the Harvard Business Review article
• Building inclusive networks for leadership, innovation, and community support with the Exceptional Leaders Network
• AI for SLPs Facebook Group - For SLPs and SLPAs only

More resources and information is available at SLPsTalkTech.com

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Dr. Givona Sandiford, an award-winning speech-language pathologist (SLP) and founder of Melospeech, shares her inspiring journey from clinician to tech innovator. She discusses the challenges she faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including her personal battle with postpartum depression, which fueled her passion for creating technology solutions that streamline the workflow for SLPs. Dr. Sandiford highlights the development of Melospeech's AI tools, particularly the SLPeace Bot, designed to simplify documentation and enhance clinical efficiency. Her story emphasizes the importance of innovation in healthcare and the recognition her company has received for its contributions to the field.

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SLPs Talk Tech is your guide to the intersection of AI and emerging technology in speech-language pathology and communication sciences and disorders (CSD). Hosted by Leila Denna Staiger, a practicing speech-language pathologist and AAC consultant, the podcast brings you conversations with clinicians, researchers, and innovators shaping the future of communication support.

Each episode explores how SLPs can navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of technology, making informed decisions about integrating digital innovations into clinical practice.

Subscribe to never miss an episode and gain critical insights into the evolving role of tech in CSD.

Learn more: https://slpstalktech.com

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This meeting, held on April 9th, centered around the critical intersection of AI literacy and the role of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the evolving tech space. Our guest speaker, Dr. Richard Cave, an SLP from the University College London. He shared his invaluable experience building partnerships with tech giants like Google to develop speech recognition tools for individuals with impaired speech. He detailed projects such as Project Relate and a new initiative in Ghana focused on creating multilingual speech models for non-standard speech. The conversation stressed the importance of evaluating technology based on human experience and communication outcomes rather than solely tech metrics like word error rate. Ultimately, the meeting highlighted the essential role of SLPs as advocates and technology instructors in this domain and is being summarized in a podcast for broader access.

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Today, we're diving into key takeaways from a recent SLPs Talk Tech meeting, featuring insights from Erich Reiter, a speech recognition engineer turned SLP and founder of Say it Labs. Erich shared information about the speech recognition technology he is creating to increase access to quality speech therapy within video games. This meeting highlighted the evolving role of AI in supporting individuals with communication disorders and sparked important conversations about the future of our field.

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Dr. Lindsey Peters-Sanders, Assistant Research Professor at the University of South Florida, joins us to share her 2024 ASHA Convention presentation. Her research focuses on vocabulary acquisition in young children, the development of language and literacy interventions to facilitate word learning, and the potential of AI tools to support and enhance vocabulary instruction for young children. 

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February 26, 2025. This podcast is a recap of the SLPs Talk Tech meeting featuring a presentation by Dr. Darin Woolpert on using ChatGPT for language sample analysis (LSA). His study compared ChatGPT's accuracy to traditional LSA methods, revealing strengths in basic tasks like word counting but weaknesses in more complex analyses. The discussion emphasized the importance of human oversight to correct AI errors and biases. We also explore AI's potential in early language screening and discuss the ethical considerations and need for normative data. Future discussions may address voice AI, audio-based learning, and synthetic speech.

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Hello SLPs Talk Tech community,

This year at the ATIA conference, AI was a major topic, showing both exciting possibilities and challenges. Conversations ranged from advancements in voice cloning to user privacy, autonomy, and ethical use. Here’s a quick recap of some key takeaways and trends that were discussed at our meeting on February 5, 2025. 

*This audio was written with Otter.ai (transcript) and Notebook LM (audio). I did not remove the errors or hallucinations as a way of documenting this "AI snapshot" in time.

- Leila