After years of dealing with voice assistants that constantly misheard me or cut me off mid-sentence, I didn't expect much when I tapped the little wavelength icon to try ChatGPT's Voice Mode. I figured it would be another feature that sounded cool but fell flat in real use. But this one surprised me. Voice Mode doesn't just spit out answers. It actually feels like a real conversation.
It picks up on pauses, mumbled thoughts, and even those filler words like "uhhh" without breaking the flow. Whether I'm driving, cooking, or just trying to multitask, I can speak naturally and get helpful answers without picking up my phone. It's not just faster than typing-it feels easier, more intuitive, and way more efficient. If you haven't given it a shot yet, here's why ChatGPT's Voice Mode could become your favorite way to use AI.
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ChatGPT, from OpenAI, isn't the only chatbot going hands-free. Google's Gemini Live offers the same "talk over me, and I'll keep up" vibe. Anthropic's Claude has a beta version of its voice mode on its mobile apps, complete with on-screen bullet points as it speaks, and Perplexity's iOS and Android assistant also answers spoken questions and launches apps like OpenTable or Uber on command.
But even with everyone racing to master real-time AI conversation, ChatGPT remains my go-to. Whatever your chatbot of choice, take a break from the typing and try out the voice option. It's far more useful than you think.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
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What exactly is voice mode?
Voice chat (or "voice conversations") is ChatGPT's hands-free mode that lets you talk to the AI model and hear it talk back to you, no typing required. There's a voice icon that you'll find in the mobile, desktop and web app on the bottom-right of any conversation you're in. If you press the button, you can say your question aloud and ChatGPT will transcribe it, reason over it and reply. As soon as it's done talking, it starts listening again, creating a natural back-and-forth dialogue.
Just remember: Voice mode runs on the same large language model as regular ChatGPT, so it can still hallucinate or get facts wrong. You should always double-check anything important.
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