Google DeepMind's Thor Schaeff: Native Audio Models Will Replace Cascading Voice Agents

Google DeepMind researcher Thor Schaeff predicts that native audio models will supplant cascading voice agents in the coming years. Current systems typically rely on sequential processing—converting speech to text, processing via language models, and converting back to speech. Schaeff's assertion suggests future voice AI systems will process audio directly, streamlining architecture and potentially improving latency and fidelity in voice interactions.