talkers

Talker (plural talkers) is a term with several related senses. In common use, a talker is someone who speaks or is engaged in conversation. The word can also describe a person who talks a lot or who is especially talkative. In technical contexts, talker can refer to a device or system that produces spoken language, such as a text-to-speech engine, a voice assistant, an automated announcer, or a public-address system.

In social interaction, talkers contribute utterances and negotiate turn-taking with listeners. Talkativeness is considered a personality trait; high talkativeness often correlates with extraversion, while low talkativeness correlates with introversion. Cultural norms influence when and how much people talk.

In accessibility and assistive technology, AAC devices that serve as talkers enable individuals without natural speech to communicate; such devices may be standalone hardware or software integrated with tablets.

In research and industry, talker refers to a person’s voice as data for analysis; talker recognition or talker verification systems identify or verify a speaker from their voice. This is related to but distinct from speech recognition, which maps spoken language to text.

Privacy and ethical concerns exist with voice data collection, storage, and biometric use; best practices emphasize consent, data minimization, and transparency.