whisper.cpp: A Lightweight Intelligent Speech Recognition Library

What is whisper.cpp?

whisper.cpp is a lightweight intelligent speech recognition library written in C/C++, based on the OpenAI Whisper model, which is a deep learning model for audio to text conversion, which can convert human speech to text in real time without an internet connection.

The feature of Whisper is that it does not require any pre-trained data, nor does it require any prior knowledge of language or domain, it can automatically learn the rules and structure of language from audio.

The original version of Whisper was written in Python, using TensorFlow and PyTorch as deep learning frameworks. whisper.cpp is a rewrite of the core algorithm of Whisper in C/C++, which allows it to run on different platforms and devices without installing any additional dependencies.

What are the advantages of whisper.cpp?

The main advantages of whisper.cpp are:

• No dependencies, low memory usage, excellent performance. No need to install any third-party libraries or frameworks, just a C/C++ compiler to compile and run. Its memory usage is very low, only a few megabytes of memory are needed to process audio data. Its performance is also excellent, it can run on CPU, GPU, or other accelerators, taking advantage of multi-core and parallel computing, achieving efficient speech recognition.
• Multiple technologies and platforms. Supports Apple Silicon, ARM NEON, Accelerate framework, Metal and Core ML and other technologies, which allows it to run on Mac OS and iOS devices. It also supports AVX, VSX, CUDA, OpenCL, OpenVINO and other technologies, which allows it to run on Linux, Windows, Android, Java, WebAssembly, Raspberry Pi and other platforms and devices. It also provides a C-style API, which allows it to easily integrate with other languages and frameworks, such as Python, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, Swift, etc.
• Mixed precision and integer quantization. Supports using different precisions to run the Whisper model, such as 32-bit floating point, 16-bit floating point, 8-bit integer, etc. This can balance the size, speed, and accuracy of the model according to different devices and needs. It also supports using integer quantization techniques to convert the weights and activation functions of the model to integers, which further reduces the size of the model, improves the speed of the model, and reduces the power consumption of the model.

What scenarios are whisper.cpp suitable for?

whisper.cpp is suitable for scenarios that require real-time, offline, general, and lightweight speech recognition, such as:

• Voice assistant. It can provide speech recognition functionality for voice assistants, allowing users to control and interact through voice, adaptively recognizing the user's language and accent, providing accurate and smooth speech recognition experience.
• Voice memo. It can provide speech recognition functionality for voice memos, allowing users to record and query through voice. It can automatically extract keywords and information from audio, providing efficient and convenient voice memo functionality.
• Voice translation. It can provide speech recognition functionality for voice translation, allowing users to communicate and exchange across languages through voice.

But it may not be very suitable for scenarios that require professional, fine, and high-quality speech recognition, such as:

• Speech transcription. It does not support batch and background processing of audio files, nor does it support segmentation, analysis, and correction of audio files, it can only provide the original speech recognition results, rather than formatted and optimized text output.
• Speech recognition competition. It does not optimize for any specific language or domain, nor does it support using pre-trained data or models, it can only use audio itself as input, rather than other features or labels. Its accuracy and stability may not be as good as other professional speech recognition libraries or systems.
• Business or production environment. It is a hobby project, not pursuing to provide a production-ready implementation. Its main purpose is for education, simplicity, portability, modifiability, and performance. It does not provide any promises and guarantees for accuracy, support and updates mainly depend on contributors.

Summary

whisper.cpp is a lightweight intelligent speech recognition library, which is a port of the OpenAI Whisper model. It has no dependencies, low memory usage, excellent performance, supports multiple technologies and platforms, supports mixed precision and integer quantization and other advantages. It is suitable for scenarios that require real-time, offline, general and lightweight speech recognition, such as voice assistant, voice memo, voice translation, etc.

If you are interested in whisper.cpp, you can visit its GitHub repository for more information.