Voice: AI is Listening

Hearing a person's actual voice is a wonderful thing. But since leaving voicemail is so yesterday, many of us have taken to dictating text messages and other tasks.

Author

Connie Connors
August 10, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Why Use Voice

It is estimated that millions, if not billions, of people worldwide, use speech-to-text. It’s faster than typing, even if you’re that annoying speed demon who refuses to discover the silent keyboard. And yes, the sound of someone dictating loudly on a train, well, maybe the silent keyboard is the answer.

Speech to text technology is considered AI as it uses machine learning and natural language processing to convert spoken language into text. If you’re a tech history buff, previous speech recognition systems, like Dragon, required rules and extensive training (For example it made the user “say ‘o’ as in ‘order’, and in ‘both’”.) Today voice search is commonplace as results are just faster (52% faster than typing) and better.

REAL USE: DICTATING MEETINGS (OR DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS)

I started using Otter.ai, an AI note taker, when it came out more than a year ago, to “record” my course lectures live. Post-COVID, “Professor, I’ve tested positive, so can I just watch the Zoom later?” was common. While Zoom can record and even transcribe a meeting, I knew that 99% of those students were never going to watch the recording or read the transcript. The beauty of Otter.ai is the meeting summary and action items, which you do get with the free version. While there are many competitors, most of them have super-duper features you’ll never use, unless you’re building a massive AI app.

But here’s the best use ever of Otter.ai, doctor’s appointments! Whether it’s just a routine check-up or a pre-operative appointment, those 15 minutes blow by so quickly it’s impossible to take notes. In 39 states, including Washington D.C., you can record a doctor’s appointment without consent — it’s considered a “one-party consent state.” Out of courtesy, I do ask. Next time, I encourage you to try it. The summary may be invaluable.

ALMOST PROFOUND

I’m a Doctor’s daughter, so medicine + technology brings out my total inner geek. (My Dad was a techie too, and we both learned computing on a Radio Shack TRS-80.) Something to try: God forbid, if you ever have an operation, the Doctor transcribes the procedure, and that text is uploaded to your medical record. You can take that text, upload it to an AI video creation app, and recreate the operation! Seriously, it’s one wild movie. It does and will serve medical students well.

Perfecting the Recording

THAT BOOK IN YOU

Yup. One day. The problem is, our brains‘ inner voices run faster than our fingers can type. So many ideas and so little time. If only I could dedicate an hour a day. Here’s a tip: learn how to use Google Docs and record notes while you walk. Get a good set of earbuds with a decent mic. I’m a fan of Shokz ear bone conduction because they sit outside my ears, and I can hear everything around me (cars or, my preferred, the sound of the ocean).

Just hit the record button on the right and babble away. Edit later! I’ll explain the world symbol on the left over here ➡️ 

The globe on the bottom left of the keyboard is WisprFlow, which I started experimenting with a few months ago (read: no immediate gratification). It purports to be more accurate than other voice-to-text apps. The Doctor’s daughter here is used to saying “period. new paragraph.” Wispr listens to your intonation and gets it right away. If you’re serious, it’s worth a try.

Text message option

Resources Added: AI and the Environment

Based on your feedback (from young and old), the elephant in the room is how AI is bad for the environment. I have added a page to the pull-down menu Resources on the website, which I will continue to update and I will provide direct links to the particular resources over time.

NEWLETTER ENDNOTES: TRAVEL

My friend Cris reminded me, several months ago, how she used her favorite Chatbots, Claude and Perplexity, for travel, but almost as important, upon her return, as you’ll see below.

And she uses Claude.ai for her wildlife photos.“What are the birds on the back of those hippos?” Which returned “Oxpeckers on Hippos in Okavango Delta”.

Oxpeckers and hippos have one of nature's most fascinating symbiotic relationships. These small birds, primarily red-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrohynchus) and yellow-billed oxpeckers (Buphagus africanus), regularly perch on hippos and other large African mammals.

The relationship works both ways: oxpeckers feed on ticks, flies, and other parasites found on the hippo's skin, getting an easy meal while helping keep their host clean and healthy. They also act as early warning systems, taking flight and calling out when predators or other threats approach, alerting the often-submerged hippos to potential danger.

What makes this particularly interesting with hippos is that these massive, semi-aquatic animals spend much of their day in water, yet the oxpeckers have adapted to work around this lifestyle. They typically feed on hippos when they're basking on riverbanks or grazing on land at night.

Until Next Time

Stay curious, take a long walk during these last dog days of summer, and dictate that book that has been screaming to come out for you for years. It’s that easy. And almost the entire manuscript is more than enough. “Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” Von Goethe, Murray, or Faust.

Connie

UP NEXT: The Wild West. No, not travel. When the Internet emerged, it was another Wild West. Same with AI. As always, I want to help you save time but also not get taken. Stay tuned and stay alert.