The wonderful world of dictation

Last Christmas, one of the presents I was most excited about was from my brother Desmond, who sweetly packaged up Mac iListen, 1.5.2 as per my request from Santa Claus.

I though it would be a neat, time-saving way to finish off my transcriptions from all those interviews I’d conducted during my fieldwork. I could listen to a recorded interview in Indonesian with my headphones on, and then speak the English translation into the dictation program. If all went according to plan…Abracadabra! There would be my transcription!

What a wonderful idea…the simplicity of it is still marvelous. Over several days, I spent hours and hours speaking written passages into the computer via my fancy-dancy microphone in order for the computer to “learn my voice” and maximize dictation accuracy. This morning, I felt ready to proceed to the next step.

I woke up at 7am, and not having to be at work until 9am, I decided to conduct a simple experiment. I would repeat one line into the computer five times to test the program’s accuracy. Still not having shaken the sleepy dust off, I chose a rather inane line, but one that used words that would probably be oft-repeated.

I read:
Fusion composers link ethnic forms of composition with contemporary.

Well, as I said, it's not great prose, but whatever, I’d just woken up. The point is, I read it in exactly the same way, five times. These are the five responses that it came up with:

1. The end of a fusion composers later that animate the forms of composition one of and then bury.
2. Fusion composer is claimed that and I can proving that we can.
3. The above, due in the those are is claimed that have a form of composition with contemporary they had.
4. Fusion composer is a link that in the forms of composition with contemporary.
5. Fusion composer is a link at the neck of firms of composition with a good battery.


(Screams of agony). To say the least, the experience was frustrating.

I then said, "stop dictation," in hopes that the madness would stop.

The computer typed back:

"Stuff that dictation."

Now that, I agree wholeheartedly with.