As explained in this video, flow-matching-based generative methods are a class of models that learn a "continuous vector field" in order to manage and transform what are relatively simple "noise distributions" into more complex data distributions. They do this by following ordinary differential equations. Instead of learning "discrete denoising steps" (that's what diffusion models do), they train the flow to match probability paths directly between data and noise.
At its core, S2R is a technology that directly interprets and retrieves information from a spoken query without the intermediate, and potentially flawed, step of having to create a perfect text transcript. It represents a fundamental architectural and philosophical shift in how machines process human speech.
You've probably used both technologies this week without realizing it. When Siri transcribes your text message, that's speech recognition. When your banking app verifies it's you speaking, that's voice recognition. The terms are often used interchangeably, but they address completely different problems. And as artificial intelligence gets better at faking human speech, understanding voice recognition vs. speech recognition becomes critical for anyone building secure systems.