A new survey of UK office workers who use voice AI has revealed that 25 percent have additional needs, such as dyslexia and hearing loss.

The research, which was commissioned by Digital Adoption, targeted over 800 voice AI users who are working in offices in the UK, and sought to find out the primary reason why they are getting audio transcribed into written text in the workplace.

The data revealed that one in four Brits in this category are making use of the software because they have additional needs such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, hearing loss, deafness and visual impairment.

What is more, it is possible that those who have these additional needs are quietly using voice AI to help them keep up with their colleagues.

That is because, according to a recent study by Bupa, 43 percent of employees with additional needs have not disclosed them to their employer.

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia was one of the main conditions cited as a reason for using voice AI in the workplace.

According to the Dyspraxia Foundation, those with the condition will struggle with their motor skills and organising themselves. Problems with attention, memory and time management can also lead to difficulties in the workplace.

Those with dyslexia are also being benefited by voice AI at work. The British Dyslexia Foundation describes the condition as a learning difficulty which impacts reading and writing skills, the ability to process and remember auditory information and organisational skills.

Hearing loss

Hearing loss was another reason given for using voice AI in the office. According to the RNID, companies who employ people with hearing loss have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for the condition, which could include providing communication support for meetings such as speech-to-text reporters. It looks like voice AI is quickly becoming a convenient alternative for those who want to keep up with auditory communication at work.

According to NICE, by 2035, around one-fifth of us will have hearing loss. That’s a statistic the tech world is paying attention to – as in late 2022 the app XRAI Glass came out.

This piece of tech provides the hearing-impaired with the ability to caption real-life conversations as they happen and helping those with hearing loss in the process. Being able to subtitle conversations in this way will no doubt help in the workplace as well as in more casual settings.

However, the app does not work as well in environments with a high level of background noise. This is a key finding Digital Adoption uncovered in their survey, as 28 percent of office workers using voice AI revealed that they would like the software to filter out background noise more.

So how are people are using voice AI at work? 

Digital Adoption discovered the top 3 ways people are getting ahead in the office with this technology:

– To free up my time – 31%

– To help with organising myself better – 21%

– To share notes with colleagues more quickly – 19%

The world seems to be catching on to the potential of this software, as analytics data from Exploding Topics reveals there has been a 2500 percent growth in interest for text classification models in the last decade.

These are systems which are used in voice transcription software to automatically transcribe spoken words into text. Voice transcription software uses algorithms and models such as text classification to identify spoken words and phrases to classify them into different categories and display them in the correct written format.

Even more strikingly, the transcription tool Otter AI has seen a whopping 8000 percent increase in interest over the last 5 years, with a particular increase coinciding with the first release of ChatGPT in November 2022.

Rotem Gal, Head of Research at Digital Adoption, said:

“Our research indicates that those with additional needs will be able to handle daily work tasks more easily if they are given access to voice AI software.

‘Those with conditions such as dyspraxia and dyslexia can struggle with information processing, organisation and time management. If HR managers make a point of making voice AI available in the workplace, employees will be able to transcribe live audio in real time and create useful written documents that will help them with improving their organisation and retaining information.

‘Those who want to keep their disabilities private will be able to use these tools to function better at work without needing to disclose their additional needs to HR.

‘Furthermore, businesses are assisting with improved productivity, as workers will not be wasting time writing up to-do lists, listening back to recordings – or forgetting what their colleagues or seniors said in important discussions!”

 

 

 

 

Amelia Brand
Amelia Brand

Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.