· AI Engineering · 2 min read
Voice Dictation for a Faster Workflow
Local dictation tools are finally good enough to replace typing. A simple hotkey setup could make voice a daily habit.
If you haven’t tried using dictation apps on your laptop, you should try one.
AI voice dictation has been part of my workflow for nearly a year now. The main idea is simple: your voice goes through a speech-to-text (STT) model and returns the text, then it optionally goes through an LLM once more to fix typos. I tried several of them:
- Wisprflow: A popular one. Works with both Windows and Mac. One minus point is it sends your voice to its server for STT. As I’m privacy-oriented, this is a no-go for me.
- Superwhisper: Works with Mac, and has Windows in beta. Processes your voice locally, no audio is sent to a server. I used it for a while, but it had a glitch where the text was duplicated, so I explored alternatives.
- VoiceInk: This is perfect for me. Has all the functionality of the one above. Not only local but also open source. You can build the app yourself or pay a one-off fee, way cheaper than Wisprflow or Superwhisper.
So I settled on VoiceInk because it ticks all my boxes. As it is open source, I know all my data is secure.
For the setup, I have a hotkey (Option + Space) to trigger the voice dictation. I also have a mouse with 2 side buttons, 1 to trigger dictation, and one to trigger the Enter key. So I can technically use only the mouse to chat with an LLM or search on the internet without having to reach for the keyboard.
For mobile, there are many dictation apps, but I would advise staying clear of them for now. The reason is, to paste text directly into other apps, the dictation app needs permission to interact with them. That poses a serious security risk, especially when your phone has banking apps.
I’m using the built-in dictation on my phone for now. Although the quality is not great, it is usable. And I heard that Apple is upgrading its dictation model in iOS 26 too.
You may find using voice a bit clumsy at first, but don’t give up. Consciously prioritize using voice instead of typing for a week, and you’ll soon see it as an important part of your workflow, and enjoy the productivity gains AI voice brings to you.
