In this series of detailed posts about Leasey 11.5, we have looked at features which help with writing, file management, social media, notes, databases, diary entries, quick access shortcuts and more.
This time, we come to ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is not new to Leasey.
Last year, Leasey introduced direct interaction with ChatGPT, and we know from usage that many people have taken to it. Thousands of queries are made each month using Leasey's interface. That tells us something important. It tells us that ChatGPT is not simply an impressive technology people try once and forget. For many Leasey users, it has become a practical tool.
People use it to ask questions. They use it to draft text. They use it to simplify information. They use it to summarise. They use it to analyse documents. They use it as a writing companion, a research assistant, a plain language explainer, a brainstorming tool, and sometimes just a quick way of getting unstuck.
Leasey already allows users to submit prompts, receive responses in plain text or HTML, save and load conversations, save and load prompts they use regularly, and upload documents to ChatGPT for analysis or for questions about their contents.
In Leasey 11.5, that relationship with ChatGPT becomes more integrated.
LeaseyWord can use ChatGPT tools while you are working with text. LeaseySocial can use ChatGPT tools to help with posts and social media content. And now, Leasey adds a new experimental feature:
Talk to ChatGPT.
This is a new way of speaking to ChatGPT using your voice and hearing the answer spoken back.
It is designed for quick spoken questions, spoken answers, and follow-up conversation.
The Existing ChatGPT Foundation.
Before looking at Talk to ChatGPT, it is worth remembering what Leasey already provides.
The standard Leasey ChatGPT interface allows prompts to be submitted and responses to be received in plain text or HTML. Conversations can be saved and loaded. Prompts which are often used can also be saved and loaded, which is very helpful for people who repeatedly ask ChatGPT to perform a particular kind of task.
Documents and PowerPoint presentations can be uploaded to ChatGPT for analysis or questioning. That can be useful when the user wants help understanding a document or presentation, extracting information, summarising it, or asking specific questions about it.
Those features remain important.
Talk to ChatGPT does not replace them.
Instead, it adds another way to interact when speech is the most natural option.
ChatGPT in LeaseyWord.
LeaseyWord also interacts with ChatGPT in version 11.5.
In LeaseyWord, there is a ChatGPT Tools menu. The ChatGPT Text Tools dialog contains a Tools list, a text edit field, OK and Cancel.
The Tools list contains writing and review tools such as Spell check, Dictionary, Thesaurus, Summary, Formal rewrite, Plain language rewrite, Frequently asked questions, Action items and Speech draft.
If text was selected before opening the dialog, the text edit field contains the selected text. If no text was selected, it contains the whole document. For Dictionary and Thesaurus, if no text was selected, LeaseyWord uses the word at or just after the cursor.
The user can review or edit the text before activating OK.
For most tools, when ChatGPT returns the result, LeaseyWord replaces the original selection. If no text was selected, it replaces the whole document. LeaseyWord creates a document backup before applying the result.
That last point matters.
Using ChatGPT to rewrite or transform text can be very powerful, but users should not feel that a document has been changed without protection. Creating a document backup before applying the result gives the user a safety net.
Dictionary results are different. They are shown in a read-only edit field and do not change the document.
Thesaurus results are also different. They are shown in a list box. Press Enter on an alternative to replace the selected or current word.
This gives LeaseyWord a very practical set of writing tools. You can ask for a summary, a plainer version, a more formal rewrite, action items, or a speech draft without leaving the document environment.
ChatGPT in LeaseySocial.
LeaseySocial can also benefit from ChatGPT.
The same kind of writing and review tools can be useful when composing or reading social media posts.
If you have written a post and want it rephrased, ChatGPT can help. If you are reading a long post and want it clarified or summarised, ChatGPT can help there too.
This is especially useful because social media can involve many different writing styles. A post may be informal, technical, emotional, unclear, very long, or compressed into a short form. Having tools to rephrase, summarise or clarify can make the experience more comfortable.
Again, the important idea is integration.
The user does not have to copy text, leave the application, go somewhere else, paste, ask for help, copy the result back, and then return.
The assistance is closer to where the work is happening.
What Talk to ChatGPT Adds.
Talk to ChatGPT extends the ChatGPT experience in another direction.
It is found on the Chat menu, opened with the Chat Key then M.
This is a new way of talking to ChatGPT using your voice.
It is intended for quick spoken questions and spoken answers.
For example, you might ask about the weather, a recent news item, a book synopsis, or a general question. You might ask, "What is the basic idea of this book?" You might ask, "Give me a quick explanation of compound interest." You might ask, "What are some good questions to ask before buying a new microphone?" You might ask, "Summarise the main news about this topic." You might ask, "What should I consider when planning a trip to London next month?"
You can also ask follow-up questions.
That is where the feature begins to feel different from simply dictating a question into a search box.
You might ask for a summary of a book, then ask whether it is part of a series. You might ask about a news item, then ask for background. You might ask for an explanation, then say, "Make that simpler," or "Give me an example," or "Explain it as if I have never used this before."
Talk to ChatGPT is designed for that kind of quick back-and-forth.
The Main Window.
When Talk to ChatGPT opens, focus is placed in the Your question edit field.
This is deliberate.
The best way to use this feature is to stay in that edit field rather than tabbing through the controls.
The main window contains the Your question edit field, Talk to ChatGPT button, Ask button, Stop speech button, Copy answer button, Clear button, Options button, Exit button, Continuous conversation check box, Answer edit field and Transcript edit field.
That may sound like a lot of controls, but the main workflow is much simpler.
Stay in the Your question edit field.
Press Alt+T to talk.
Listen to the answer.
Ask another question when needed.
The rest of the controls are there when you need them, but they do not have to interrupt the normal voice workflow.
The Recommended Speech Workflow.
When focus is in the Your question edit field, press Alt+T to start talking.
Leasey should say:
Start talking.
You then speak your question.
When you stop speaking, the app should detect the pause and send the question to ChatGPT. You do not normally need to press the Talk to ChatGPT button a second time.
When the question has been sent, Leasey should say:
ChatGPT is thinking.
If the answer takes a little while, Leasey repeats that message approximately every ten seconds.
When the answer is ready, ChatGPT begins speaking.
JAWS focus should remain in the Your question edit field.
That is intentional.
It prevents unnecessary focus announcements from JAWS while the answer is being received. In a voice conversation feature, that matters. The user should not be fighting focus changes and control announcements while trying to listen to an answer.
The experience is designed to keep JAWS as quiet as possible.
Interrupting and Asking Another Question.
Sometimes you do not want to hear the rest of the answer.
Perhaps you have enough information. Perhaps the answer is going in the wrong direction. Perhaps something else occurs to you and you want to ask immediately.
Press Alt+S.
Alt+S stops the current speech and immediately starts listening again.
Leasey should say:
Start talking.
You can then speak the next question.
This is a very important part of the design.
Without a quick interruption command, a spoken answer can become frustrating. You may be stuck waiting for the speech to finish before you can redirect the conversation. Alt+S gives you a way to take control immediately.
Typing Instead of Speaking.
Although the feature is built around voice, you can still type.
Type a question in the Your question edit field and press Control+Enter to send it.
This is useful in several situations.
You may be in a noisy room.
The microphone may not be convenient.
The question may contain spelling, punctuation, web addresses or unusual names which are easier to type than speak.
You may simply prefer typing at that moment.
This flexibility is welcome. A voice feature should not force voice use in every situation.
Continuous Conversation.
Talk to ChatGPT includes a Continuous conversation check box.
If this is checked, after ChatGPT has finished speaking an answer, the app starts listening again automatically.
You can then speak the next question without pressing Alt+T.
If you want to stop the spoken answer and begin a new question immediately, press Alt+S.
Some users may prefer to leave Continuous conversation unchecked at first. In that case, press Alt+T each time you want to speak to ChatGPT.
That is probably the gentlest way to begin.
Continuous conversation can feel very natural once you are comfortable, but it may be better to start with manual control until you understand the rhythm of the feature.
Reading, Copying and Clearing Answers.
The spoken answer is also placed in the Answer edit field.
Because focus remains in the Your question edit field, you may need to Tab to the Answer edit field if you want to review the answer manually.
This is important because speech is not always enough.
You may want to read part of the answer again. You may want to check spelling. You may want to copy a section. You may want to review it with a Braille display. You may want to slow down and examine the text carefully.
The Transcript edit field contains the conversation so far. It includes the questions and answers in order.
Use the Copy answer button if you want to copy the current answer to the clipboard. Use the Clear button to clear the current conversation.
This means Talk to ChatGPT is not only a spoken exchange. It also leaves text behind for review and reuse.
Choosing the Voice.
Options are opened with Control+Comma.
Options contains an Assistant voice combo box.
Use Up and Down Arrow to move through the available voices.
Changing the combo box selection does not automatically preview the voice. This is deliberate, so you can move through the voices without unexpected speech.
To hear the selected voice, move to the Preview button and press Enter or Space.
When you have chosen the voice you want, move to OK and press Space.
The quality and character of the spoken answer may depend on the selected voice, so it is worth trying the available choices to find the one you prefer.
Why This Is Experimental.
The documentation describes Talk to ChatGPT as experimental, and that is the right word.
This is a voice conversation feature, but it is not quite the same as speaking to a person on a telephone.
There may be a short pause while your speech is transcribed, while ChatGPT thinks, and while the spoken answer is prepared.
The feature is designed to make that waiting understandable.
You hear Start talking when recording begins.
You hear ChatGPT is thinking when the question has been sent.
If the answer takes longer, that thinking message is repeated periodically.
Then the spoken answer begins.
Those short messages matter because silence can be confusing. If you ask a question and nothing seems to happen, you may wonder whether the microphone failed, whether the question was sent, or whether the app is still working. The status messages reduce that uncertainty.
If silence detection does not behave as expected, you can still use the Talk to ChatGPT button or Alt+T as a controlled way to begin recording.
If speech is currently playing and you want to ask something else, use Alt+S.
The feature uses the OpenAI API key already used by Leasey ChatGPT features.
Why Talk to ChatGPT Matters.
Talk to ChatGPT matters because not every question begins as typing.
Sometimes you just want to ask.
You may be in the middle of another task. You may not want to open a full conversation window. You may want a quick explanation, a spoken answer, and a chance to ask a follow-up.
This can be especially useful for quick general questions, short explanations, current information, summaries, definitions, ideas and planning.
It can also be useful when typing would slow you down. If you are thinking out loud, voice can feel more natural than composing a written prompt.
At the same time, Leasey keeps the experience grounded in accessible design.
Focus stays in the Your question edit field so JAWS does not chatter unnecessarily.
The answer is spoken, but also placed in an edit field.
The conversation transcript is available.
You can copy the answer.
You can type instead of speaking.
You can choose whether continuous conversation is enabled.
You can interrupt speech and ask another question with Alt+S.
You can choose the assistant voice.
This is not only a voice novelty. It is another way of making ChatGPT available inside the Leasey environment, with keyboard control and JAWS behaviour considered from the beginning.
Leasey 11.5 does not treat ChatGPT as one isolated feature. It brings ChatGPT into places where it can help: documents, social media, existing ChatGPT conversations, document analysis, prompt libraries, and now spoken conversation.
Talk to ChatGPT may be experimental, but it points toward a very practical idea.
Sometimes the fastest way to begin is simply to ask.