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Creating Alexa

In 2000, two students in Poland decided to create a device which could understand you and talk back in a voice which sounded human

The smart speaker Alexa is used by hundreds of millions of people around the world every day, but did you know its voice was created by two people in Poland back in 2000?

Lukasz Osowski and Michal Kaszczuk were final year students at Gdansk Technical University when they decided to create a device which could understand you and talk back in a voice which sounded like a human.

They went through a few versions and started getting attention from big companies before eventually making a deal with Amazon.

Lukasz and Michal speak to Megan Jones.

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(Photo: Amazon Echo Plus smart speaker. Credit: Olly Curtis/Future via Getty Images)

Release date:

Available now

9 minutes

On radio

Fri 3 Jan 2025 08:50GMT

Broadcasts

  • Fri 3 Jan 2025 08:50GMT
  • Fri 3 Jan 2025 12:50GMT
  • Fri 3 Jan 2025 18:50GMT
  • Fri 3 Jan 2025 23:50GMT
  • Sat 4 Jan 2025 03:50GMT

Podcast