Engineering
Developers
Dictate the prose half of the job: commit bodies, PR descriptions, specs, and long prompts. Code stays on the keyboard.
Writing
Writers
Get a rough draft out at speaking speed, then edit by hand. Drafting and editing are different jobs and voice only helps one of them.
Distributed teams
Remote work
Written communication replaces the hallway conversation. Dictation makes the long update cheap enough to actually write.
Hand strain
RSI and hand pain
Cut keystroke volume without cutting output. Dictation is one lever among several, and it works best combined with the others.
General
Productivity
The honest version: dictation wins on volume text entry and loses on precise editing. Use it where the math works.
Before you set anything up
Pick the tool first, then the workflow
Apple Dictation, Voice Control, and dedicated dictation apps solve different problems. Choosing wrong costs more time than any setup guide saves.