A:Answer Hi Russ, thank you for the question. Yes, you can use speech dictation with Cortana, built into Windows. Activate using the Windows key plus H (Windows key-H). There is much third-party software available, learn more here: https://www.popsci.com/set-up-voice-dictation/
The microphone is built-in. The RAM (memory) is DDR4. Increasing RAM might be possible by a skilled professional, but the RAM slot is not user-accessible. If you need more file storage, you can either use an SD card or connect an external drive.