AI Assistant
Ask AI anything — answer questions, fact-check, explain, and transform text by voice.
Most AI presets in VivaDicta work as text processors — they clean up, reformat, or translate your speech. The Assistant preset is different: it treats your speech as a question or instruction and responds with a direct answer.
How It Works
When you use the Assistant preset, VivaDicta sends your spoken words to the AI as a prompt rather than text to polish. You speak naturally, and the AI responds with a direct answer.
- "What's the capital of France?" → Paris
- "Write a polite email declining this meeting" → a complete email draft
- "Explain this error message" (with error copied to clipboard) → a clear explanation
- "Rewrite this email professionally" (with email in clipboard) → a polished version
- "Translate this to Spanish" (with text copied) → the Spanish translation
Clipboard Context
The Assistant becomes even more powerful when combined with Clipboard Context. Enable it in your mode's AI Processing settings, and the AI will see your clipboard content alongside your spoken instruction.
For example: copy an error message, then ask "explain this"; copy a paragraph, then say "make this more concise"; copy code, then ask "what does this do?"
Setup
- Make sure you have an AI provider configured.
- Select the Assistant preset in your mode settings, or switch to it before recording.
- Record your question or instruction.
- The AI response appears in your transcription.
Works with Any Provider
The Assistant preset works with all AI providers — Claude, GPT, Gemini, Groq, Ollama, and more. The quality of responses depends on the model you choose. For the best results, use a capable model like Claude Sonnet or GPT-5.
Example Use Cases
- Quick answers: "What year was the Eiffel Tower built?"
- Content generation: "Write a thank-you note for a birthday gift"
- Explain things: "Explain what a VPN does in simple terms"
- Rewriting: "Rewrite this more professionally" (with text in clipboard)
- Translation: "Translate this to Japanese" (with text in clipboard)
- Fact-checking: "Is it true that..."
Assistant vs Other Presets
| Feature | Regular / Email / etc. | Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Polish your speech into text | Answer questions, generate content |
| Responds to questions | No — treats everything as text to rewrite | Yes — understands and answers |
| Clipboard context | Optional | Optional (recommended) |
| Output style | Cleaned-up version of your speech | Direct answer to your question |
See also: Presets & Variations for the full list of available presets.