# Research Regarding STT/TTS

This repository is a mess! It's my personal notepad — a pure collection of snippets and experiments that cost me blood, sweat, and many tears. 

**Special thanks to:** Google. *You know what you did.*  
**To OpenAI:** You're amazing! Quality stuff. Sadly, I'm not rich enough to run a 24/7 service with your pricing regarding STT/TTS, so I use only `gpt4o-mini`.

The end result of this repository is a working **STT/TTS system** that allows you to talk with ChatGPT. 

To save money, I use TTS/STT from Google Cloud (paid). It's surprisingly cheap!

Do not take the way I communicate with the LLM too seriously — that wasn’t the main focus. The implementation in this project has no context, memory, or system messages. Every call is treated as a new session.

If you're interested in this technology but get stuck due to lack of documentation, feel free to email me at **retoor@molodetz.nl**.

---

## How to Play Immediately (Without Configuration)
You can get started in just 5 minutes:
1. Create a virtual environment.
2. Install the requirements file: `pip install -r requirements.txt`.
3. Execute `tts.py`.

With these steps, you'll have a working `gpt4o-mini` model listening to you and responding in text.

---

## Application Output (`tts.py`)

The output is speech, but here’s how a typical conversation looks:

```
Adjusting for ambient noise, please wait... 
Listening... 
Recognized Text: what is the name of the dog of ga 
Response from gpt4o_mini: Please provide more context or details about what "GA" refers to, so I can assist you accurately. 
Recognized Text: Garfield the gas has a dog friends what is his name 
Response from gpt4o_mini: Garfield's dog friend is named Odie. 
Recognized Text: is FTP still used 
Response from gpt4o_mini: Yes, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is still used for transferring files over a network, although more secure alternatives like SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) and FTPS (FTP Secure) are often preferred due to security concerns. 
Recognized Text: why is Linux better than 
Response from gpt4o_mini: Please complete your question for a more specific comparison about why Linux might be considered better than another operating system or software.
```

---

## Repository Structure

The repository contains:
- **`play.py`**: For playing audio with Python.
- **`gcloud.py`**: A wrapper around the Google Cloud SDK (this was the most time-consuming to build).
- **`tts.py`**: Execute this script to talk with GPT.

---

## Requirements and Preparation

- **A paid Google Cloud account**
  - Google Cloud CLI  
  - You get $300 and 90 days for free, but you'll need to attach a credit card. I used it extensively and didn't spend a cent!  
  - The free credit barely depletes even with heavy usage.

- **Google Cloud SDK + CLI** installed  
  *Important:* These standalone applications affect the behavior of Python's Google library regarding authentication.

- **Python 3** and the following:
  - `python3-venv`
  - `python3-pip`

> I initially installed a lot using `apt-get`, but I can’t recall if it was all necessary in the end.

---

## Installation Steps

1. Activate the virtual environment:
   ```bash
   python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate
   ```
2. Install the requirements:
	```bash
	pip install -r requirements.txt
	```
## Testing the setup
1. Check Google Authentication & TTS
	```bash
	python gcloud.py
	```
 - If successful, it will speak a sentence.
 - If not, you'll likely encounter some authentication issues — brace yourself for Google-related configuration struggles.
 
2. Check Speech Recognition (No API Needed)
	```bash
	python tts.py
	```
 - This sends your text to the gpt4o-mini model and prints the response.
 - Requires no configuration and works out of the box.

## Conclusion
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Figuring this out was a nightmare. If OpenAI's services were financially viable, I would have chosen them — better quality and much easier to implement.

Now, I have a fully operational project that communicates perfectly and even follows conversations. For example, I can:
 - Assign numbers.
 - Perform calculations (e.g., divide "the first number by the second").
 - Use the microphone full-time to ask or say anything I want. I have a wireless JBL GO speaker that's directly ready for the job when I turn it on.
 
I hope some people appreciate the snippets!