Joanna Stern says AI voice tools are the habit she kept after a year
After testing AI across work and home for a year, Joanna Stern told CNBC Make It that voice tools remain her most useful habit.
By Sarah Jenkins · Chief Macro Economics Correspondent
· 3 min read
Joanna Stern AI voice use became the clearest lasting habit from a year in which the technology reporter tried to apply artificial intelligence across much of her work and home life. Stern told CNBC Make It that, after testing tools ranging from household robots to AI-enabled consumer products, she has continued using voice features in ChatGPT for brainstorming and preparation.
Stern, a former Wall Street Journal reporter and founder of the tech media venture New Things, documented the experiment in her book, “I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything.” CNBC Make It reported that some tools she tried, including a T-shirt folder and other home robots, did not become regular fixtures. AI voice tools did.
The distinction matters for companies and workers trying to identify which AI applications move beyond novelty. Voice interfaces allow users to speak to a chatbot and receive spoken replies, reducing the need to type prompts into a screen while commuting, walking or preparing for a meeting.
What AI tool does Joanna Stern still use?
Stern said she still uses ChatGPT’s Voice Mode, a feature that lets users talk to the chatbot and hear its responses. During her yearlong test, she told CNBC Make It she was speaking with ChatGPT in the car “almost daily,” and said that pattern continued after her book was published.
While writing, Stern also used ChatGPT and Claude to build custom “BookBots,” according to CNBC Make It. Those bots had access to her outlines, research and transcripts, and she used them for tasks including copy editing, number work, idea generation and staying on track. She often spoke to those bots through AirPods.
Stern told CNBC Make It that talking through ideas felt natural and could prompt additional thinking. She said the tools “sound so human,” while adding that the experience carried less social pressure than discussing an unfinished idea with another person because the chatbot was “not really judging me.”
She described one drive, recounted in her book, when she talked through the themes of the project with ChatGPT while her son watched a movie in the back seat. Stern acknowledged in the book that the scene felt somewhat sad, but said the exchange reduced anxiety about pending work and allowed her to be more present when she and her son reached the beach.
Why workers are testing AI voice tools
Stern said voice tools now help her use commuting or short gaps between meetings to prepare, brainstorm interview questions or refine early-stage ideas. She told CNBC Make It that screens can distract users with alerts, while voice allows her to focus on the conversation.
The comments come as AI use becomes more common in the workplace. A CNBC and SurveyMonkey Quarterly AI and Jobs Survey published in May found that 57% of employees use AI at work. About one-third of workers said AI made them more productive, rising to 73% among those who use it daily or weekly.
CNBC Make It reported that AI can be used for activities such as interview preparation, summarizing lengthy documents or drafting presentations. The same report also noted expert cautions that AI systems can generate false information, and that psychologists warn chatbots and AI companions should not replace human relationships.
Stern offered a similar limit on the technology. She recommended using voice tools for early brainstorming and rough ideas, while warning that users should remember the systems are not people. “Let’s not all be fooled by that,” she told CNBC Make It.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
