Speech-To-SQL and Beyond: A Survey

PhD Qualifying Examination


Title: "Speech-To-SQL and Beyond: A Survey"

by

Mr. Yuanfeng SONG


Abstract:

The great majority of data in the industry is saved in relational 
databases, and structured query language (SQL) is an indispensable tool 
for accessing this data. However, SQL is a programming language with 
complicated grammar, which results in a very high learning curve, 
especially for non-technical users. Thus, automatically translating 
natural language questions (NLQs) into SQL queries, also known as 
text-to-SQL, has lately been intensively investigated in the natural 
language processing (NLP) and database communities to make it easier for 
these users to explore the database.

With the ubiquity of smart devices and mobile phones, more and more people 
consider using a voice-based interface to achieve easier and more 
efficient communication modalities to interact with systems. Meanwhile, 
hundreds of voice-based applications, such as voice-based search engines, 
AI assistants, chatbots (e.g., Siri, Xiaoice, Google Home, and Cortana) 
and voice-based databases, have emerged in the market recently. Among 
these applications, some of them also explore the possibility of 
developing voice-based interfaces for database systems. Compared with 
typing on a text-based interface, the voice-based interface could let 
users compose SQL queries with a considerably quicker speed. Despite its 
advancement, limited studies have been done to summarize the progress of 
these voice-based querying systems and studies.

In this report, we aim to provide a brief survey of recent advances and 
new frontiers in voice-driven querying systems. Specifically, we first 
formally define this rising speech-to-SQL problem, and then we give a 
thorough review of this research field, covering different aspects 
including text-to-SQL, speech-driven querying system and speech-to-X. 
Finally, we also briefly talk about some emerging areas as well as 
potential future directions.


Date:  			Wednesday, 10 August 2022

Time:                  	2:00pm - 4:00pm

Zoom Meeting: 
https://hkust.zoom.us/j/94908287757?pwd=M2VGQmhRdzNFR3RidGxVUHFXTjVTQT09

Committee Members:	Prof. Raymond Wong (Supervisor)
 			Prof. Xiaofang Zhou (Chairperson)
 			Prof. Qiong Luo
 			Dr. Yangqiu Song


**** ALL are Welcome ****