But discrete speaking is unnatural, and it is unsuitable for any dictation if the user can instead use a keyboard. Continuous speech is how people usually talk or dictate. Until computers can recognize and process that kind of speech as accurately and quickly as the average user can key in data or commands, speech recognition won't replace the keyboard. About a year ago, IBM Corp. and Dragon Systems Inc. of Newton, Mass., introduced inexpensive continuous speech recognition software. Although both programs work, neither can keep up with a reasonably fast typist.
People normally speak faster than that.
Although the programs can match the 95 percent accuracy rate of an average typist typing at 60 words per minute, they can't duplicate human error awareness. When typists hit the wrong key, they often realize it instantly and correct the error so quickly that workflow is hardly interrupted. Say no more The situation improves only somewhat when a user is reading from hard copy. Because, even on a 200-MHz computer with lots of memory, speech recognition is slow, users often speak a sentence or two ahead of what appears on the screen, making it harder to spot errors instantly. With practice, spotting errors is a little easier.