Pros & Cons on Using Voice Recognition Software

This article is written as a follow-up to my previous piece about voice recognition software.

Or rather... these words were spoken and then automatically transcribed to the written form you are reading now. In this manner, I did not "write" these words. I used my voice recognition software to make these words appear rather quickly...

As With Everything: There Are Pros And Cons

As it is with everything else in this world, there are pros and cons to everything one runs across. In this case, I want to share some experience with you about a few ups and downs of a relatively wonderful new technology: Voice Recognition Software

History

While the concept of automated transcription is not at all new, it has been something in the works in the last several decades.

In its more primitive form, voice recognition software first appeared in the way that many new things do: as an expensive and clumsy technology whose access was limited only to those able to afford it - let alone those who have the patience to put up with the many shortcomings that often accompany new products.

I remember seeing voice recognition software for the first time in the mid-1980s. My father, a physician, had traditionally used a cassette tape transcription machine. He typically created content by speaking into a hand-held microphone activated by a button he would depress with his thumb. After the cassette tape he was recording into filled up, he would throw it into an envelope and pass it on to his secretary who then transcribed his words with a typewriter onto paper (and in later days onto a computer diskette).

"Transcription" vs. "Recognition"

In its earlier days, voice recognition software was actually called something along the lines of "transcription software". While this terminology was directed to users of the technology available that day, the more recent introduction of the term "recognition" is absolutely appropriate.

OLD: "Transcription" refers to the clumsy, elaborate, and time-consuming process of recording one's voice onto tape, passing it on to someone else, and then paying them to type it onto paper.

NEW: "Recognition" now refers to a much more efficient and simpler process involving the speaking of words and seeing them appear on the monitor within a few seconds. While what I have described here sounds more or less like transcription, it is true "recognition" in the sense that superior software also does "recognize" the speaker's voice and will continue to "learn" that speaker's voice as time goes on. In time this learning process yields better transcription accuracy - fewer and fewer words are misinterpreted by the software.

This said, voice recognition software has come a long way.

The Pros

In concept, voice recognition software offers a few important advantages.

• Most obviously it frees one from having the physical limitations of typing with one's hands using a keyboard.
• The next most obvious direct benefit associated with this would be the ability to "write" words much more quickly than ever before. This goes without saying that one's productivity could rise significantly.

Beneficial For Disabled Citizens

Being the son of a mother who has been confined to a wheelchair for most of her life, I am naturally prone to thinking about how voice recognition software could help our fellow disabled citizens.

For those folks who may have lost the use of their hands (either partially or fully), I believe voice recognition software may offer a way for them to more easily express their thoughts in written form using a relatively convenient - and now extremely accurate - voice recognition software.

Comments On The Software I Use

At the time I had written my previous article on this topic, I was using Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 9 voice recognition software.

I appreciated its much improved accuracy through voice "training" technology. As I continue to use it, my software continues to "learn" how to better understand what I say. It adapts to my style of speaking and recognizes words as they are spoken in my unique voice.

Upon purchasing the new version 10, I'm as pleased as punch. The two most obvious benefits of the newer software are: faster response (transcription) time and noticeably better accuracy.

In my opinion these two reasons alone have been worth the upgrade. For those folks previously disappointed with version 9, I suggest you have a look at version 10. (I say this not at all as a salesman - I'm actually a technical writer who documents software for a living).

As time goes on, I see less and less reason not to use voice recognition software. The encumbrances I had run across in older voice recognition software have been well addressed, and I think now they have been very nearly obviated.

This is not to say they're certain disadvantages to using voice recognition software.

The Cons

The downside to using voice recognition software seems to stem progressively less from the limitations that the software creates. Rather, they come more from factors having to do with the speaker/writer and the work environment in which they use voice recognition software.

Cons Associated With Personal Style

Now that the writer may speak as freely as they wish to, this means they are in a position to run on and on in their writing (Such as this article? I know for a fact already that this article would have otherwise been much terser and more to the point had I not been using voice recognition software. ;) )

Cons Associated With The User's Limitations

There are writers who can write better than they speak.

In my case this is very evident. I find pleasure in pausing and deliberating over words before I put them to paper. For many writers, this too is a silently joyous process.

When I first started using voice recognition software, I had a big adjustment to make. Where I was used to thinking silently and then more or less silently typing words onto the screen, my authoring process turned into the much more "noisy" affair of speaking my words out loud, and in dealing with that as a distraction.

This shift in the sensorial process of writing was profound for me, and I could easily see it as being upsetting (or at least distracting) for other writers. In the beginning, it was so distracting for me to hear my own voice.

Cons Associated Within Certain Work Environments

I see some factors in the work environment which make it a bit awkward to use voice recognition software.

By daytime I work as a technical writer in a "cube farm". I'm surrounded with loads of people walking back and forth, talking to each other, having hallway meetings, saying hello, helping themselves to refills at the water station just a few meters away. This kind of scenario makes it somewhat difficult to use voice recognition software.

The kinds of obstacles I run across:

• Background noise in the work environment reduces the accuracy of voice recognition software.
• While speaking to my voice recognition software, people walking by who hear me may sometimes think I am addressing them. They make a detour into my cube and start talking to me. What I gain in productivity from my software, I may lose to the time spent talking with people who feel "invited" into my cube. (My recommendation: Adapt a grumpy attitude to fend them off! Easily done when one has not had morning coffee!)

"Writing" Still Requires Editing

While I can easily say that I wrote this article in much less time than it would normally take me if using my hands, this is not to say there was any less follow-up work required.

Even if one is a good speaker and is able to whip out a written piece within a short time using voice recognition software, one still has to edit their work. Good editing work requires proofreading. For example, my use of the word "proofreading" was interpreted by my software as "proof reading". Upon completion of this article, I had to go back, reread my words, and make sure they made sense and were free of embarrassing typos.

Editing also involves forethought and planning. Later it involves review and reorganizing of the words that have been written - a process that sometimes involves moving entire paragraphs across a document. Good editing often puts the final touch on to the words that have been written. Good editing can even turn poorly written words into pure gold.

All of these and more are the tasks which comprise some editorial processes, and cannot be done by any form of voice recognition software that I know of.

Nor would I want them to be. Because...

It Won't Take Your Job Away!

This said, writers need not be concerned about voice recognition software taking their jobs away. While anyone can use the software to "write" content, they will still need you as their editor!

Have fun! Publish with joy and imminently greater volumes!

- John

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