Projet HUM.AI.N-ACCENT (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2024)
Action : Doctoral Networks
Panel : Social Sciences and Humanities
Statut du projet : SIGNED

HUM.AI.N-ACCENT is an interdisciplinary research project that explores the neurocognitive and social impacts of foreign-accented speech in human-human and human-AI interactions. With millions of new arrivals to the European Union each year, there is an urgent need to understand how foreign accents influence communication, decision-making, and social dynamics. Research has shown that foreign-accented speech can generate biases and increase cognitive load, yet the origins and consequences of these effects are still poorly understood. The HUM.AI.N-ACCENT project aims to fill this gap by combining insights from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, AI engineering, human-computer interaction, and social science, with lifespan perspectives. Using advanced methodologies like neuroimaging, eye-tracking, virtual reality, and neural tracking, the project will investigate how foreign-accented speech affects neural responses, attention allocation, and social judgments. By studying both human-human and human-AI interactions, the project will provide critical insights into how accents shape communication and behaviour in diverse contexts. This research will have far-reaching scientific, societal, and technological impacts. It will deepen our understanding of speech perception and inform the development of more inclusive AI systems, advancing social, educational, clinical, and technology sectors. By training a new generation of researchers through a series of multidisciplinary workshops, hands-on training, and career development activities, HUM.AI.N-ACCENT will promote interdisciplinary collaboration between academic and non-academic sectors, helping the next generation of scientists to drive innovations in speech technology, reduce accent bias, and foster social inclusion. The project objectives align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals ‘Quality of Education’ and ‘Reduce Inequality’.

Mots clés : foreign accent, social interaction, neurocognitive psychology, ai systems

Participants :
- Telefónica (Spain) (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université d'Oslo (Norvège) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 339932.16 €
- Université de Barcelone (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 282188.16 €
- Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgique) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 288540.0 €
- Mind's eye research ltd (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Nebrija University (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 282188.16 €
- Université du Pays basque (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Difusion, centro de investigación y publicaciones de idiomas, s.l. (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université d'État de Pennsylvanie (Etats-Unis) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Lille (France) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 314669.16 €
- Université Radboud de Nimègue (Pays-Bas) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 305285.76 €
- Université de technologie de Delft (Pays-Bas) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Bangor (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 348738.12 €
- Toshiba (United Kingdom) (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université d'Édimbourg (Royaume-Uni) — Partner, associated partner, Autres, subvention : 0.0 €
- Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 282188.16 €
- Université de Padoue (Italie) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 563510.16 €
- University College Dublin (Irlande) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 341087.04 €
- Université ouverte de Catalogne (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 282188.16 €
- Voxygen (France) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Sonova (Switzerland) (Suisse) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Berne (Suisse) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université McGill (Canada) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Advanced numerical technologies (Pays-Bas) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €