On Apple devices, predictive text is based on what you usually type on that particular device. I found this out by experimenting with using predictive text to write sentences and paragraphs.
When using my phone, the sentences sounded like I do when I text. The three options to start a sentence are always
“Oh”, “Yeah”, and “I”.
On my iPad, which I primarily use for reading and looking up recipes, the three options are
“Brown”, “Chicken”, and “I".
These technologies are very much user-based, and create very different compositions. In each essay, I began with just using the center option, then moved to just the left, then just the right, and finally I used all of the options to try and intertwine words and compose sentences that were a bit more intentional. I used the same Microsoft Word account on each device.
The iPhone essay looked something like this:
Yeah yeah that’s fine too but I’m just not trying anything out of the house so I’m not gonna go back in the time
Yeah yeah that’s fine lol I don’t think I’ll ever see it again I don’t think I’ll ever be there in the park I just can’t believe that I can’t believe that it’s all like that too
Yeah yeah I don’t think I have a lot to say but I’m just wondering what you guys are going on and what are we going on for
Yeah yeah I don’t think I can have a bad idea but I’m not gonna do that too much I don’t think I can have a problem lol I don’t think I’ll be able too but I’ll be home soon too so I’ll be home soon too
Yeah yeah that’s what I’m doing right right lol I don’t think I can do it right lol I think I have to do some stuff like it but I just can’t believe that
Yeah yeah I know lol it’s a weird way lol but I’m not trying lol I think it’s funny but I’m just thinking
Yeah yeah that’s what I’m doing right lol I think I can do it too but I’m just thinking I don’t think I’ll ever be there in the park
Yeah yeah that’s fine lol I just don’t understand what I was thinking lol I guess that’s why I’m going out lol I don’t think I can do it anymore
Yeah yeah I know but it’s like a big deal like that too but I think it’s too much to say
I guess lol I just don’t understand what I was thinking lol
I don’t know if anyone is interested in that or not lol lol I just got a bill from the office and I was like oh yeah
I don’t know if anyone is interested in that or not lol lol I just got a bill from the office lol lol
Oh wow that’s fine I guess lol it’s just been crazy lately but it’s just not a great thing for us too and it’s not too funny that I can’t get a bad attitude like I do so lol
Oh yea I did it was just like the ones that I’ve been in there for years and now I’m like what I’m doing is like a little crazy lol I think I just don’t need it to be honest
I just can’t wait to see you tomorrow
Oh wow that’s crazy how about it
Yeah that’s what I’m thinking about
Oh yeah that’s good news but it’s not too bad for you
Yeah I mean it’s not like I don’t have an attitude like that but I’m like what do you mean
Oh wow lol I just got home from the park and now I’m getting my hair done
Oh yeah that’s good lol I’m just wondering what you think you’ll do
Yeah that’s good news
Oh wow I just got home from the store and now I’m leaving my car
These predictions are clearly based on how I text & comment on social media, and reading and composing this essay made me realize how negative and down I sound. There are a lot of “don’t”s and “not”s throughout. Using predictive text makes for a pretty neat self-reflecting exercise. What word combinations do I typically use? What word comes up more times than others? What’s a typical “Laura sentence”? Is this not only how I text, but also how I speak, think, and feel?
Explore how the words interact with each other on Voyant
Moving on to something a little less reflective, the iPad composition looked like this:
Brown rice pot chicken salad rice rice pot chicken pot pie salad salad chicken chicken pot pie pot rice pot pot chicken salad.
Beef chuck salad and chicken pot pie for chicken. Brown rice pot pie chicken salad.
I don’t think we have to worry about it anymore. I have a question about the other two people and they have a lot of stuff to do. I just wanted to make sure you have your own number. I don’t know if you have to work or do you have to do something else. Brown is a good guy but he doesn’t have to be a kid.
I have a lot to say to do but I’m going back and have to do it for the next couple of days but I’m going back next year if I don’t get a lot going back in my room. I have to go back to sleep now and then I’ll have a good day. I have a few minutes before my meeting but I’m going back to sleep now.
I’m not doing anything about it but I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m not doing anything wrong but I’m not doing anything about it. I’m going to have chicken pot pie for dinner tonight so we can eat dinner at my house.
I think that because the iPad is used less frequently, it was quicker to learn and come up with new predictions. By the time I was finished, the top three predictive words had changed to “brown”, “I”, and “I’m”.
The sentences on the iPad seemed to be open for more diverse words, than my phone, though. On my phone, words like "lol", "yeah", "like", "gonna", and "not" came up almost every time, whereas on the iPad, new words were often getting shuffled into the mix.
Explore how the words interact with each other on Voyant