Dragon professional 15 and dictation options in Word and online
Instead of typing this, I'm using Dragon professional 15. I'm speaking out the words and Dragon is transcribing them onto the page. It takes some getting used to. The program makes some mistakes but it seems that it increases the bandwidth of my effort. Talking out loud instead of typing is a new experience. There are some transcription errors which can be easily remedied and apparently the program learns as it goes and becomes more accurate with time.
I had previously tried the dictation function in Microsoft Word. It seemed to me that it was about maybe 97% effective. Dragon seems about 98% or 99% effective in transcribing what I say. It does seem to have some problem with more complex words. You can train the vocabulary. It is probably not yet a full solution for every contingency. I have tried to use the transcription service with some lesson recordings that I have but that seems to quit after a page or two. As artificial intelligence becomes more ubiquitous I wonder what the future holds for transcriptionists and secretaries.
One feature of Dragon that is not available in other solutions is that you can use it in other programs. No need to cut and paste.
