Conversational voice AI has a hard constraint that separates usable products from abandoned ones: latency. This article covers the architectural fit of real-time-optimized mini models in voice AI stacks, a working real-time voice implementation using the OpenAI Real-time API, and a practical latency comparison against competing options. Table of Contents The Latency Problem in Voice AI What Makes Real-Time-Optimized Mini Models Different Latency Comparison: Real-Time Mini Models Across Providers Architecture Overview: How the Voice AI Pipeline Works Building a Real-Time Voice Assistant Real-World Use Cases Limitations and When to Use a Larger Model Choosing the Right Model for Voice AI Appendix: TTFT Verification Script The Latency Problem in Voice AI Conversational voice AI has a hard constraint that separates usable products from abandoned ones: latency.…