Chirp Tutorial: How to Use Google's Speech-to-Text AI Model

Introduction

Chirp is Google Cloud's advanced 2B-parameter speech model, developed through self-supervised training utilizing millions of hours of audio and 28 billion sentences of text across more than 100 languages. With an impressive 98% accuracy in English speech recognition and significant improvements in various lesser-spoken languages, Chirp presents an exciting opportunity for developers and businesses to enhance accessibility and user experience.

What Will We Cover?

This tutorial will provide you with a detailed, step-by-step process for setting up the Google Cloud console to leverage the capabilities of the Chirp speech-to-text AI model. Here's what to expect:

• How to navigate the Google Cloud console.
• How to set up the Chirp speech-to-text model in the Google Cloud environment.
• Conducting a transcription on an audio file and obtaining results.

Prerequisites

To get started, all you need is a Google Cloud account and a device with internet access. Don’t forget your cup of coffee!

Getting Started

Step 1: Create a Google Cloud Account

If you don’t have a Google Cloud account yet, you can create one easily. Follow this link to create a free account.

Step 2: Create a New Project

1. On the top left corner, click on the project dropdown menu.
2. Choose New Project.
3. Input a name for your project and click Create.

Step 3: Enable the Speech API

Navigate to the Speech section in the Google Cloud console and click on ENABLE API.

Step 4: Create an STT Recognizer

1. In the left sidebar navigation, click on Recognizers then select CREATE RECOGNIZERS.
2. Name your recognizer chirp-recognizer.
3. Select Chirp as the model and en-US for the language.
4. Leave the rest of the settings as default and click Save.

Step 5: Create a New Workspace

1. Open the Workspace dropdown menu and click New Workspace.
2. A sidebar will pop up; select Browse and then Create a new bucket.
3. Name your bucket chirp-bucket and click Continue.
4. All other settings can remain default; click Create.
5. Finish by clicking Select, then Continue, and finally Create.

Step 6: Create a New Transcription

To perform a transcription on your audio file:

1. Access the left sidebar navigation and select Transcription > New Transcription.
2. Here you'll have the option to upload audio files either from your local machine or an existing Cloud Storage file.
3. Use the Local upload option and select your audio file.
4. The UI will automatically assess your audio file's parameters, which you can adjust if necessary.
5. Click Continue.
6. Ensure the API version is set to V2, and specify the language as English (United States) - en-US.
7. Select Chirp as the transcription model and your chirp-recognizer.
8. Then, click Submit and wait for a few moments.

Step 7: View Transcription Results and Download

To view your transcription results:

1. Click on the name of your transcription to access the results.
2. Download the transcription in formats such as JSON, TXT, SRT, or CSV. For instance, to download as TXT, click Download > TXT.

Wrapping Up

This guide has walked you through the entire process of implementing Google Chirp's speech-to-text AI model on the Google Cloud console. With these step-by-step instructions, you can take full advantage of Chirp’s capabilities for high precision speech recognition.

Equipped with the knowledge from this tutorial, feel free to explore and apply Google Chirp's features in your projects. Join us in our upcoming AI Hackathon to test your skills and experiment!

If you have any questions or need further assistance, do not hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter.