Back in January Microsoft announced that it would be bringing voice dictation software to Microsoft Office. Voice-to-text software has been around for a while, but it has always been far from reliable. Finally, Microsoft thinks it’s cracked it they’ve started rolling out a test version of voice dictation to Microsoft Office users, with a small caveat attached.
If Office users want to give voice dictation a try, they’ll need to be running the latest version of Office for Windows (Office 2016) and be an Office 365 subscriber. On top of that, Office users need to be a part of the Windows desktop Office Insider program. All users who meet these three criteria will be able to try out the new Office dictation technology in Word 2016, PowerPoint 2016, Outlook 2016 and OneNote 2016. For now, the tests are only running in US English. For more information on the Office Insider program click here.
Recent advances in machine learning, AI, and voice recognition should finally allow the development of reliable voice dictation. As AI assistants, which rely solely on voice recognition technology, are taking the world by storm it shouldn’t be too long before this cool new feature is rolled out to all Microsoft Office users and not just members of the Insider program.
What are your thoughts on voice-to-text dictation? Are you excited about the thought of being able to write a novel without using your hands?
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