Fred Jelinek

"Every time I fire a linguist, the performance of our speech recognition system goes up."

"It is generally believed that scientific talent reveals itself in early youth. [...] This was certainly not my case. I somehow slid into my scientific profession. My mother wished for me to become a physician, just like my father. [...] I myself wanted to be a lawyer, defender of the unjustly accused. But my career is the result of political circumstances, academic possibilities, and lucky accidents."

"It's easier to say something stupid than write something stupid."

"He was not a pioneer of speech recognition, he was the pioneer of speech recognition."