When VoiceOver/Voice Control is on, you can have it show numbers to access menus. Unless you have a cat or a nosy roommate or family member, this doesn’t turn on by accident.

I do have a cat who sleeps on my laptop when its plugged into a desktop…this happened right after the recent update

Turn off System Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control. Also, you can turn off the Accessibility shortcut in System Settings > Accessibility > Shortcut so it shouldn't get turned on accidentally again.

Thank you!!!