08 Jul The best of both worlds – AI transcripts and human proofreaders

 

Why human proofreaders are still needed for AI transcripts

 

While VoiceNotes continues to offer transcription by UK-based typists, we recognise the growing demand for AI-powered transcription. That’s why we also offer AI-generated transcripts, reviewed and perfected by our editorial and proofreading team, combining technological efficiency with the expertise, accuracy and quality assurance that only professional – human – editors can provide.  

Why human proofreaders are still needed for AI transcripts

AI is changing the transcription industry, in some cases for the better – taking days to type long, complex documents from audio files is a thing of the past, as AI can do it in a fraction of the time. Inevitably, though, what you can gain from speed, you lose in the overall accuracy, quality and reliability of your product.

However, it is possible to have speed AND accuracy in long-form transcription.

How VoiceNotes works with AI-generated copy

Simply provide your AI-created transcript (or we can produce one for you from an audio file). Our talented team of proofreaders will then turn it into a polished, accurate end product that you can be fully confident in sending on to your clients, marketing to the public or using for record-keeping compliance.

We can produce verbatim transcripts, i.e. where every um and ah is captured, which might be useful where a transcript is needed for legal evidence, for example; if preferred, we can proofread for readability, removing unnecessary words and providing a clean-read end product. Or speak to us directly about any other preference you may have.

When accuracy matters as much as speed

In our experience, AI voice-to-text software can capture up to about 70% of recorded words correctly – and that’s only where conditions are perfect, i.e. there is no background noise, there are only one or two speakers and they speak slowly and clearly, high-quality recording devices are used, etc. If any of these is not the case, then accuracy reduces drastically. When you then factor in punctuation, specific or unusual spellings or terms, i.e. names, companies, even placenames – or any type of nuance and inferred meaning – the rate of accuracy is lower still.

In some cases, background noise can completely throw off an AI voice-to-text transcription, to the point where only 5-10% is distinguishable. In these cases, a human proofreader has a far better chance of producing good, useable copy, for the reasons mentioned below.

For any person or organisation where transcription accuracy is a critical requirement, not just a preference, human supervision is essential. This may be because a transcription will be used in legal or HR matters, financial records, or anything where client information is handled carefully and record-keeping is a matter of law and compliance, or where the product is going to the public, to clients, etc. If you require a level of accuracy that AI alone simply can’t achieve, a human proofreader can take your AI transcription to 99%-plus accuracy.

How a proofreader brings value to AI transcripts:

• Error correction/consistency – AI still mishears words, confuses homophones and fails to distinguish between similar-sounding phrases. A human will research to check whether a word or phrase is correct, then correct consistently in future. As an example, a human proofreader is trained to research a client or company name until it is found, however obscure it might be, and can flag an issue with you if said client/company can’t be located; an AI transcription doesn’t have this ability.
  
  
• Working with speech patterns – humans don’t speak like computers, in full, perfectly formed sentences (unfortunately for proofreaders!). Humans understand this and can work to format and proofread transcripts to be as readable as possible, despite the fact a sentence may break off midway through, or a speaker may change thought mid-sentence. This is not something a computer can understand, not having human thought processes itself.
  
  
• Understanding nuance – nuance is a big part of human communication, and humans have years of experience in picking up/understanding complexity. Interpreting tone, intent and nuance play a large role in understanding meaning.
  
  
• Managing highly technical meetings – a human will apply insight and research to understand meaning, ensuring that the syntax makes sense, rather than ‘spitting out copy’ where the phonetic interpretation is confusing or just plain wrong.
  
  
• Understanding cultural and linguistic sensitivity – humans are better at picking up subtleties that might impact the tone or meaning of what’s being discussed. AI may misinterpret slang, jargon or colloquialisms, leading to embarrassing mistakes and inaccuracies in the transcription.
  
  
• Having a human touchpoint who you can phone – we are based in London, and any issues can be broached with our friendly team and resolved in person. No chat bots or unanswered emails here (though you can, of course, send us an email if you prefer, and receive a fast, human, response!).
  
  

Speed – How quickly can VoiceNotes turn around a transcript?

AI’s greatest value to transcription production is speed. Using an AI first draft, we are able to work to a three-day turnaround for transcriptions up to two hours long. However, depending on your needs, transcripts can be returned more quickly than that, and a transcript of 40 minutes or less can often be returned within 24 hours.

Confidentiality

VoiceNotes is ISO 27001-accredited and GDPR compliant. We operate under stringent security protocols, ensuring data is kept confidential at all times.

Our service was purpose-built to transcribe confidential information securely, and we now have nearly two decades’ experience working with FTSE 100 companies, banks and financial institutions.

Summary

Even as AI gradually becomes more proficient with spelling and punctuation, reducing the burden on proofreaders, it struggles with many other factors. Simply put, humans understand language in a way that AI can’t.
If you want the best of both worlds, then taking a quickly produced AI transcript and having it professionally proofread by experts in the field, with the utmost care and highest levels of accuracy, represents best practice for any business that values quality and can’t afford to risk ‘bot error’.

Contact us to discuss/for further information on how VoiceNotes’ transcript proofreading and editing service can provide you with high-quality transcriptions at a fraction of the cost of employing a full team of transcriptionists/proofreaders.

 

 

Please get in touch with any questions or to start your FREE trial – info@voicenotes.co.uk / 0207 117 0066.