With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, there’s a growing concern among transcriptionists and scopists about the potential for AI to replace their roles. While it’s true that AI has improved and is increasingly being used in transcription services, it is crucial to highlight the unique abilities of human transcriptionists and scopists that AI can’t match. This article explores several key reasons why transcriptionists outshine AI.
Accuracy
While AI can transcribe a vast amount of content quickly, it often fails to achieve the same level of accuracy as a human transcriptionist. The quality of AI pertaining to the presence of background noise, low-speaking voices, and other sound disturbances is less than ideal.
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Contextual Comprehension
AI often struggles with understanding the context of a conversation. In contrast, humans can infer the meaning from the surrounding dialogue and changes in tone between participating individuals.
Transcriptionists outshine AI in editing and quality control
Janet Shaughnessy, owner of Transcribe Anywhere, reassures all of us that we should not be worried About AI taking over for transcriptionists. Artificial Intelligence is far from perfect. AI can and will make up content when it is unsure of its meaning. Transcriptionists outshine AI at recognizing and correcting errors or inconsistencies in text.
Language Complexity
The complexity of human language, including idioms, sarcasm, humor, and cultural references, is beyond AI’s current understanding. Human transcriptionists can interpret and correctly transcribe these aspects.
Multiple Speakers
AI can struggle to differentiate between multiple speakers, especially in large group settings. In contrast, humans can utilize contextual clues to identify different speakers. When the multiple speakers are of different nationalities, AI falls even shorter in transcribing a clean document.
Document Formatting
Transcriptionists and scopists can format transcripts to fit clients’ specific needs. On the other hand, AI often can’t provide the specific customization that your clients want and need beyond basic templates.
Transcriptionists excel over AI in punctuation
Transcriptionists outshine AI in the area of correct punctuation. It is easier for a transcriber to punctuate using the surrounding tone and flow of speech. Artificial Intelligence can’t compete against you.
Industry and Acronym Deficiencies
Humans can adapt to industry-specific terminologies and acronyms that AI may not be programmed to recognize. As a word of caution, I would double-check and even triple-check that words are accurate according to the niche.
Lack of Human Creativity and Intelligence
Human transcriptionists provide a creative touch and an intuitive understanding of the context, tone, and emotions that AI lacks. Transcriptionists pick up on subtleties that AI would miss and then incorporate them into the transcription for a more accurate document.
Transcriptionists outshine AI…but artificial intelligence elevates success levels. How you might ask? Even with its shortcomings, you can use AI as a tool. Tools like otter.ai, Grammarly, and Content at Scale can all make your life easier and faster so you can make more money. So, don’t throw away thoughts of using AI.
Conclusion
While AI has brought significant changes to many fields, the skill and expertise of human transcriptionists and scopists remain irreplaceable. The amazing abilities to understand complex language, deduce the meaning of context and ensure quality control are just a few aspects where humans excel. Despite technological advancements, the value of the human touch in transcription is undeniable and will continue to be essential in the foreseeable future. Transcriptionists outshine AI and will continue to do so for a very long time.
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Updated 4/4/2024
Borlok Transcription started doing transcription in 2006 and started out doing all sorts of transcription. As a subsidiary of Borlok Virtual Assistants, LLC, We started out in freelance marketplaces like Elance.com and oDesk.com (now known as Upwork.com). It took us time to feel comfortable doing transcription, but we hung in there – and you can too!
