AI is slowly taking over the world with programs like Copilot and Gemini making headline news every single day. However, one of the other benefits of AI are the smaller AI-powered tools which you might not have heard of yet.
In comes Flow by Wispr, an AI-powered voice dictation app. This lets you speak naturally using a push-to-talk shortcut and then have your words instantly structured into clear and usable text, whether that be lists, emails or documents.
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I decided to give Flow a fair shot and see if it actually would replace my keyboard. Spoiler alert: I still need to be able to press the shortcut, so maybe not.
Voice dictation isn't a new thing. Even before AI took the world by storm, voice dictation has been a fairly popular tool that many have used to search the web right down to writing entire reports. Whether it's because you're too lazy to type, or if you have accessibility needs which make it easier for you to talk instead of use a keyboard, voice dictation is super useful.
The difference with AI-powered voice dictation, however, is that it takes into account your user history, name, specialized terms, and it actually listens when you talk. If you tell it to backspace, it will do so. It can also use your tone of voice to adjust the formatting, so if it sounds like you're listing things, it will automatically format like a list.
When first coming across Flow, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to give it a go. I do enjoy typing, I mean, I do it for a living, right? However, something that drew me in was the claim that it's 4x faster than typing, and right from the get-go, I will say this was a hundred percent the case. I was able to generate entire paragraphs within just a few seconds because I talk at the speed of light.
At first, I was prompted with a mini tutorial just to get used to the software, where I was instructed to use different tones of voice, create lists, and even write an email. Even when you stumble over your words or need to correct yourself, Flow can recognise this and make those corrections for you, so you don't have to go back and edit the text as you would with a typical voice dictation tool.
After setting up the shortcut for Flow, it then prides itself in being able to be used anywhere on your desktop. You can use it in word processing applications or straight within your web browser to write emails or Google search.
However, like I stated earlier, you need to be able to press the shortcut in order to use Flow. So you can't completely get rid of your keyboard.
To be honest, it did take some getting used to at first, it does feel weird having to narrate your thoughts to have them typed out instead of just typing them.
If you work in an office environment or around other people, this can definitely look a little bit strange but luckily, I have the benefit of working from home, which means no one is watching me talk to myself... phew.
I used Flow for a variety of different tasks, whether that was replying to emails or writing lists for admin purposes.
As someone that struggles with dyslexia, I found it so much easier to be able to talk instead of having to type, because I struggle a fair amount with spelling. Despite using software like Grammarly, I can still get frustrated while writing for work.
However, after switching over to Flow I didn't have to worry about this for a single second. There are a lot of words I know how to say but couldn't spell them to save my life, which Flow resolved for me. On top of this, being able to talk and actually have a voice dictation tool that can understand when I tell it to start over was a godsend.
It was easier than talking and then having to go back and edit all of the text because it's come out wrong, as has been the case with other voice dictation tools that I have used. Instead, I can just tell it, "Hey, this isn't correct."
It also uses the context of what you're saying to adapt the punctuation or grammar of your sentence as well. If I'm listing something, it will list it out. Or if I'm saying something that sounds like a quote, it will automatically add the quote marks.
Based on your cadence, it also knows where to add full stops versus where to add commas, something that even I struggle with as a writer sometimes.
Flow has multiple plans you can try out with the basic free plan giving you 2,000 words per week. While this might sound like a lot, you can very very quickly hit this wall with me reaching it within 10 minutes of using the software, but that might be because I'm a big yapper.
The Pro edition of the software costs $12 per user per month which gives you full access to the software as well as unlimited words per week. There is also a team plan that comes in at $10 per user per month, this has the same access as the Pro level but is designed for larger groups to take advantage of the software.
Overall, I have loved my time with Flow, and I think that it will be something that I'll continue to use moving forwards. Despite already being quite a fast typer, I can get hindered by my spelling issues due to my dyslexia, and with Flow, that has been completely eradicated.
However, despite the fact that I type very quickly, Flow is still significantly faster than me. If you're someone who types a lot, whether that be for work or school, maybe give Flow a go and see if it does reduce your typing time because it certainly did for me.
While I won't be replacing my keyboard just yet, because every so often you do have to make an edit here and there, it's definitely being used significantly less from here on out. If you want the proof in the pudding, I wrote this entire article using Flow. Or should I say, spoke this entire article using Flow.
