--- title: "AI dictation on a Mac: speak once, get an email, notes or a prompt" description: "How AI dictation works on a Mac, and how to turn a spoken ramble into an email, a Slack message, bullet notes or a ChatGPT prompt with writing modes that run on your Mac. With setup steps and custom mode examples." url: "https://speechbee.app/guides/ai-dictation-mac" --- # AI dictation on a Mac Talking is fast. Talking in finished paragraphs is not, so most dictated text needs a tidy-up before it goes anywhere. AI dictation does that tidy-up for you: it takes what you said and shapes it into the email, message, notes or prompt you were going to write anyway. By the SpeechBee team, who make SpeechBee. Checked on 15 October 2026. > ### The short version > > - **Apple Dictation** types what you say, nothing more. Apple's **Writing Tools** can rewrite it afterwards, one selection at a time. > - **SpeechBee's writing modes** reshape each dictation as it lands: Email, Message, Notes, Prompt for AI, Formal, Casual, or your own. Each app can have its own mode. > - **Where the AI runs:** on your Mac with Apple Intelligence on macOS 26, or with your own AI provider when you ask for it. ## What AI dictation actually does Ordinary dictation writes down your words, including "so, um, basically what I wanted to say is". The first job of the AI step is cleanup: fillers gone, false starts dropped, a sentence where you changed your mind kept only in its final form. The second job is shaping. The same thirty seconds of speech can become three short paragraphs for an email, one friendly line for Slack, a bullet list for your notes, or a structured prompt for ChatGPT. That is where it saves real time, because the shaping is the part you would otherwise do by hand. ## The free way: dictate, then Writing Tools On a Mac with Apple Intelligence, you can dictate with Apple Dictation, select the text, and use **Writing Tools** to proofread it or rewrite it in a friendlier, more professional or more concise tone. It is free and private. It is also two steps for every piece of text, and it only offers those set tones. We compare the two approaches in [Writing Tools vs dictation cleanup](https://speechbee.app/compare/apple-intelligence-writing-tools-vs-dictation). ## Writing modes in SpeechBee SpeechBee, which we make, applies a writing mode to each dictation before it pastes it. The built-in modes: | Mode | What you get | |---|---| | Clean | Your words, with fillers, repetitions and false starts removed | | Email | The body of a clear email in short paragraphs, your points in order. A greeting or sign-off only if you said one | | Message | A short, natural chat message, no greeting unless spoken | | Notes | Concise bullet points, one idea per line | | Prompt for AI | A structured prompt: the goal first, then the context and constraints you gave | | Formal | A polished, professional tone | | Casual | A relaxed, friendly tone | Every mode keeps your names, numbers and technical terms, writes in the language you spoke, and adds no facts. If you dictate a question, the mode rewrites the question; it never answers it. ### Set it up 1. Open SpeechBee's **Settings**, then **Text Cleanup**. 2. Under AI cleanup, set **Mode** to **On this Mac**. This needs macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence turned on. 3. Choose a **Writing mode**. You can also switch modes from the menu bar. 4. Dictate as usual. The shaped text lands at the cursor. No Apple Intelligence? Choose **With my AI service** and connect your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini key, or a local Ollama or LM Studio model. SpeechBee then pastes your normal dictation first and sends the text, never the audio, to that service only when you choose **Clean Last Transcript**. ### A different mode for each app Dictate once in Mail, then in **Settings**, **Advanced**, choose **Edit Last App Profile** and set its writing mode to Email. Do the same in Slack with Message, and in ChatGPT or Cursor with Prompt for AI. From then on SpeechBee picks the right mode by itself, depending on where your cursor is. ### Write your own mode Click **New** next to the writing mode and give it a name and an instruction of up to 1,000 characters. You can keep up to 20. Some that work well: - **Standup update:** "Format as three short lines: Yesterday, Today, Blockers." - **Support reply:** "Write a warm, concise reply to a customer. Thank them once. Keep any steps as a numbered list." - **Commit message:** "Write a git commit message: an imperative summary under 60 characters, a blank line, then a short body." - **Plain English:** "Rewrite in short sentences a 12-year-old would understand." ### Add translation Writing modes combine with translation. Speak in your language, pick a target under **Translate To**, and SpeechBee shapes the text first and translates it last, on your Mac. See [translate while you dictate](https://speechbee.app/guides/translate-while-dictating-mac). ## When to leave the AI off AI cleanup is off by default in SpeechBee, and for good reasons. Leave it off for anything that must say exactly what you said: quotes, legal wording, code, or a message to someone who knows how you talk. Clean mode, or no AI at all, still removes the "um"s and keeps the sentence yours. ## Questions ### Does Mac dictation have AI cleanup? Apple Dictation does not reshape what you say. On Macs with Apple Intelligence you can rewrite the text afterwards with Writing Tools. SpeechBee's writing modes do it as part of the dictation. ### Does AI dictation send my voice to the cloud? In most AI dictation apps, yes. In SpeechBee, transcription happens on your Mac, and with **On this Mac** the writing mode runs there too, using Apple Intelligence. Only if you choose your own AI service does text, not audio, go to that service, and only when you ask. ### Can AI dictation write ChatGPT prompts? Yes. SpeechBee's Prompt for AI mode turns a spoken request into a structured prompt, goal first, then context and constraints, and does not answer it. See [talking to ChatGPT on a Mac](https://speechbee.app/guides/voice-to-chatgpt-mac). ### What do I need for SpeechBee's writing modes? An Apple silicon Mac with macOS 26 and Apple Intelligence turned on, in a language Apple Intelligence supports. Or your own AI provider on any supported Mac. ## Keep reading - [The best AI dictation apps for Mac](https://speechbee.app/compare/best-ai-dictation-app-mac) - [Dictation for email and Slack](https://speechbee.app/guides/dictation-for-email-and-slack) - [Translate while you dictate on a Mac](https://speechbee.app/guides/translate-while-dictating-mac) - [Voice coding on a Mac](https://speechbee.app/guides/voice-coding-mac) ## More on dictation - [Every dictation guide and comparison](https://speechbee.app/guides/voice-typing-mac) - [Dictate in Gmail](https://speechbee.app/guides/dictation-in-gmail) - [Dictate in Notion](https://speechbee.app/guides/dictation-in-notion-mac) - [Dictate in Obsidian](https://speechbee.app/guides/dictation-in-obsidian-mac) - [Dictate in VS Code](https://speechbee.app/guides/dictation-in-vs-code-mac) - [Dictation in Word on Mac](https://speechbee.app/guides/dictation-in-word-mac) - [Every read-aloud guide and comparison](https://speechbee.app/guides/read-text-aloud) ## Sources - [Apple: Use Writing Tools on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-writing-tools-mchldcd6c260/mac) - SpeechBee facts from our [changelog](https://speechbee.app/changelog) and [privacy policy](https://speechbee.app/privacy)