How to talk to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot instead of typing
One of the older members of my own family has arthritis in their hands. Typing on a small phone screen is hard work for them, so they don’t. They tap the microphone once and simply say what they want. When I first saw them do it, it made total sense.
You don’t need a reason to prefer talking. It suits anyone who finds the keyboard fiddly, whose eyesight isn’t what it was or who simply thinks faster than they type. It’s handy when your hands are full or covered in flour too.
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot all let you talk instead of type and they all work best in the app on your phone or tablet, which my last post showed you how to get.
Two ways to talk to AI
Most of these apps have two different buttons and it helps to know which is which.
- The microphone. You speak, your words appear as writing and you send them. The answer comes back as writing, the same as if you had typed.
- A spoken conversation. You talk, it talks back out loud and you can go back and forth just like a phone call. Each app gives this a different name.
Start with the microphone. It’s the simplest and you can check what it heard before you send anything. The spoken conversation is also a big help if reading small writing on a screen is a struggle, because the answers come to you out loud.
A quick word about buttons. I’ve described the free version of each app. The apps are updated often and the paid versions can look a little different, so if a button isn’t exactly where I say, look for a small microphone or a round button with little upright lines near the box where you type.
Talking to ChatGPT
To speak instead of typing:
- Tap the microphone in the box at the bottom of the screen where you would normally type. It sits just to the left of a round coloured button.
- Say your question in your normal voice.
- Read the words that appear and change anything it misheard.
- Tap the arrow to send.
To have a spoken conversation (ChatGPT calls this Voice):
- Tap the round coloured button on the right of the same box, the one with little upright lines on it.
- The first time, it asks you to pick a voice you like.
- Start talking. When you stop, it replies out loud.
- When you’ve finished, tap the button to end the conversation.
A written copy of the conversation is added to the chat afterwards. The free version has a limit on how much Voice you can use, so if it stops, you can carry on with the microphone instead.
Talking to Claude
To speak instead of typing:
- Tap the microphone on the right of the box where you type.
- The first time, choose your language.
- Say your question.
- Check the words, then tap the arrow to send.
To have a spoken conversation: Claude also has a voice mode, where it talks back out loud. Anthropic’s own help pages describe it as a sound wave symbol next to the microphone. When I checked, though, it wasn’t showing on every phone or computer. If you can see it, tap it and start talking. If you can’t, the microphone does the job perfectly well.
Either way, a written copy of what you said is kept in your chat history.
Talking to Gemini
On an Android phone you can also start Gemini just by saying “Hey Google”, if you’ve switched that on.
To speak instead of typing:
- Tap the microphone in the box at the bottom of the screen, just to the left of the round button.
- Say your question. If it stops listening when you pause to think, tap the microphone again and carry on.
- Check the words and send.
To have a spoken conversation (Gemini calls this Gemini Live):
- Tap the round button on the right of the box at the bottom, the one with little upright lines on it. Google calls this Live. On Android you can also say “Hey Google, let’s talk Live”.
- Start talking. You can interrupt it at any time to add something or change the subject.
- When you’ve finished, tap End. You can read back what was said afterwards.
Gemini Live is free to use.
Talking to Copilot
Copilot works differently from the other three, so it’s worth knowing before you start. Microsoft’s own help page says that in the Copilot app, tapping the microphone starts a spoken conversation straight away.
- Tap the microphone in the box where you type.
- Start talking. When you stop, it replies out loud.
- When you’ve finished, tap the X to end the conversation. A written copy is there for you to read afterwards.
If you’d rather speak your question and check the words before sending, your phone keyboard’s own microphone does that, as I explain below. Copilot’s spoken conversations are free, although each one may have a time limit.
Use your phone’s own microphone
Most phone keyboards have their own small microphone too. On an iPhone it’s in the bottom right corner of the keyboard and on Android phones it’s usually along the top of the keyboard, although it varies from phone to phone. Tap it and you can speak instead of typing in almost any app, including all four of these. It’s worth knowing about for texts and emails as well.
What people use it for
Once you’re used to talking to AI, you’ll find it useful in all sorts of places:
- in the kitchen, asking for the next step of a recipe without touching the phone with floury hands
- in the garden, asking what to do about a plant that’s struggling
- out on a walk, asking about a building or a bird you’ve just spotted
- before writing a letter, talking through what you want to say and asking AI to put it into words
- practising a few phrases before a holiday and hearing how they should sound
Something to try:
“What can I make for tea tonight with chicken, a few potatoes and some leeks? Nothing too complicated please.”
Talking works well for memories too. I made a free tool called My Story Writer that asks you a few gentle questions about your life. You can speak your answers instead of typing them and it brings them together into your own story.
Tips for getting it right
- Speak normally. There’s no need to talk slowly or loudly.
- Don’t worry about full stops and commas. AI understands what you mean without them.
- Check names before you send. Unusual names and places can catch it out. Say Wymondham or Happisburgh and see what it writes. If it gets one wrong, tap on the word and fix it.
- Find a quiet spot. The television or the radio in the background can muddle what it hears.
- If it misunderstands, just say so. “That’s not what I meant” works just as well out loud as it does typed.
- Give important answers a quick look. If it tells you a price or a date you’ll act on, check it the way you would anything you found on Google.
Is it listening all the time?
No. The app only listens when you’ve tapped the microphone or started a spoken conversation. When you send your message or end the conversation, it stops. If you’ve switched on “Hey Google” on an Android phone, the phone listens out for those two words so it can wake up. Nothing starts until it hears them.
The same simple rules apply as when you type, so leave out bank details and other private information. My post for the sceptics explains what happens to the things you type and how to use a chat that isn’t saved.
If you find typing a chore, give it a try today. One tap and you’re talking.
What’s next
Now you’ve tried talking to one or two of them, you may be wondering which one to stick with. That’s what my next post, Which AI is right for you?, is about.
A note on dates. Everything here was checked when it was written and I go back over my posts regularly to keep them up to date. Apps, prices and rules do change, so for anything important a quick look at the official source is worth it.
Want to try talking to AI with a little help?
Bring your phone or tablet to a one-to-one session and Kevin will show you how to talk to AI and have your first spoken conversation, at your own pace.
Kevin also runs free library presentations across Norfolk. Come along, see AI in action and ask about anything you have read in the blog, including this.
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