Hello. Is anyone out there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is anyone working today? (Yes, you have to sing that to the Pink Floyd classic.) I hope everyone’s holiday weekend is off to a good start—or whatever this week is now. I’m about to take a break myself; see programming note below.
But first, I dictated this whole newsletter—or at least I tried. More below on how Wispr Flow and other AI voice tools are taking over, and why I fear my kids will never learn to type. Plus: how to reserve your WhatsApp username and ChatGPT invades the real world.
📆 Programming note: This newsletter is off Friday, and the newsletter and video series will be off next week too. It’s been a wild couple of months, and I need a little rest. Don’t worry, we’ll be back the week of July 13. Have a great holiday weekend. I’ll miss you all! 📆
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We have gathered here today to mourn the keyboard. Rest in peace, typing with fingers.
It feels very strange not to type this newsletter but to write it with my mouth. Yes, I dictated this entire column—or at least the first draft—using Wispr Flow, an AI-powered software.
Some call this being “voicepilled” or “voicemaxxing.” Whatever you call it, more people are embracing AI . And startups like Wispr Flow, which says it has a few million users, are pushing Apple, Google and others to make voice input dramatically better. (See Android’s new Rambler feature. See Apple’s improved dictation in iOS 27 that promises better accuracy.)
For me, it’s still weird. When I have an idea I want to think through or an important note to write, my hands instinctively want to tap-tap-tap a laptop keyboard. Typing feels like thinking. But my 9-year-old son barely knows how to type. They don’t teach it in school anymore. What he does know: how to find the microphone icon and dictate on his iPad and school Chromebook. (This summer, I’m starting Mom Teaches Typing Camp. He’s thrilled.)
AI has quietly fixed many of the things that made voice-to-text so frustrating for decades. The result is that voice is becoming the fastest—and in some cases the best—way to get words into a computer. Why now? Three big reasons…
For those in 🇺🇸 America, I hope your holiday weekend is full of ☀️ sunshine, 🌭 hot dogs, 🎆 fireworks and as little screen time as possible. See you the week of July 13.
This newsletter was written and curated by Joanna Stern and Adele Lowitz.
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