In What Ways Is Voice Typing Useful in Academia?

Voice typing and academia; what do these two things have in common? Quite a bit, actually. When I first started using voice-to-text dictation as part of my writing process — both academically and creatively — I didn't realise how much I would end up using dictation as part of my writing process. Admittedly, I thought it was going to be another tool that I would use, but I didn't realise that it would become my preference. Before this, I found my typing to be slow and clunky — and therefore, more often than not, I would handwrite and then type up what I'd written. When it came to typing, I could focus on the physical act of typing, rather than typing and thinking at the same time. I know it is a bizarre train of thought.

When I first started using voice-to- text dictation, I literally thought to myself: “If only I could type using my voice, it would be so much quicker.” When I did some research, I realised that this was literally a thing that people do. I realised that it's something that people do but — more often than not — they feel apprehensive about it because we are trained to either handwrite or type. There is the added factor of essentially talking out loud to yourself, which isn't always feasible. However, that is not to say that voice-to-text dictation cannot be an extremely useful tool. Voice typing is something that can take a while to get used to, but once it has become an integral part of your routine, it doesn't feel so unusual. Initially, I used dictation as a way of writing my university essays quicker (at least the first draft), and then I started using it on my creative projects, and realised how adaptable it is. It is a bit like how I've now expanded upon this in using voice typing to write poetry.

So, how come voice-to-text dictation is so useful in academic work?

It's no secret that any academic work involves a lot of writing, research, planning, and note-taking. Using voice-to-text dictation as part of the process takes out some of the mental load. It allows you to focus on thinking about what you're reading. Not only that, but as you are reading a research article or a book — for example — you can dictate your thoughts as you go along so that you don't miss any thoughts. As silly as it might sound, sometimes I have found that if I'm reading something and then have to transfer to typing, the essence of what I'm thinking can be lost. So, in many ways, it allows you to be more detailed in your thoughts and insights — which can develop into better work. By extension, as you have more mental energy, it means that you can easily plan your time around when you have the most energy and the availability to dictate — for example — an entire draft of an essay that way. Once that has been completed, you know that you have a starting point. I much prefer the editing process, in comparison to the drafting process.

In terms of voice-to-text dictation, it is not a matter of writing out something that is absolutely perfect. It is a matter of getting the thoughts onto the page, so that you can then develop and organise them in a way that's appropriate for your purpose. Not only that, it is much more flexible in terms of when and how you can do this. During research, for example, you may be coming home from work, but not have a pen or paper to write out some ideas — so you can simply dictate yourself as you're walking along the street (this might seem embarrassing at first, but think about how many people take a phone call. Does anybody really pay attention to what you're saying?). That means, hypothetically, that when you get home, your evenings are for relaxation. You've already done the amount of work that you're planning. As I've already discussed, dictation does mean that the editing process is longer than it otherwise would be — but let's face it, in academic writing, we are never going to be without writing or editing. 

As much as I really do love dictation, with the rise of AI — as I've discussed previously — there is an overlap with how AI is discussed as being used in academia. For example, AI is not always permitted in academic assignments, but where it is permitted it must be explicitly stated in how it was used. However, there is a bit of a grey area in terms of AI and dictation, and which apps and processes would be acceptable to use. It's important to do your research in terms of the platforms that you would like to use, if you are using dictation — and whether they would accidentally infringe on your university or institution’s policies on using AI. I get the impression the voice-to-text dictation is a form of artificial intelligence because it is generating words from your speech. However, that is very different to having AI generate text for you; it's merely generating the words that you say. Words you would have already typed anyway; it's just typing using your voice. As dictation can be an accessibility tool, I believe that it does not come under the AI policies in the same way. Nonetheless, there's something to be said for this grey area, and working out which platforms are ‘safe’ to use. I would always recommend doing research and checking with your university or institution.