AI and How It Changed The Transcription Industry
In the past, transcriptions have always been handled by human transcriptionists. However, with the rise of artificial intelligence, AI transcription is becoming more and more popular by the day. After all, with AI, transcripts can be done almost instantly, allowing those who need them to have the resources they require in a few minutes. As such, it’s no wonder many see AI as a great boon to those who need transcriptions daily.
AI has significantly impacted the transcription industry, affecting or even changing various aspects of it. But how exactly has AI changed the entire transcription industry? Read this helpful and informative blog to learn more.
How AI Changed The Transcription Industry
Transcription Production Time and Costs
One of the ways AI changed the transcription industry is the significant effect it had on the production time for transcripts. Before, creating high-quality transcripts can take a day or more to complete because of the manual processes used. With AI, however, the time it takes to create transcripts was significantly reduced.
With AI, creating transcripts can be automated, and as a result, they can be produced immediately. This allows those who need such documents to have them on hand within a few minutes and in large quantities without human transcription services.
In addition to the reduced production time, the costs associated with ordering transcripts was also reduced by AI. As artificial intelligence does all the work to produce a transcription, people who need transcripts can expect the cost to be lower than transcripts produced by a human transcriptionist as they no longer need to pay for the skills of a human being for their transcripts.
Another change AI has brought about for the industry in terms of costs is that the lower rates of AI transcripts have forced some human services to reduce their costs as well. That way, they can still viably compete with AI in the transcription market.
Transcriptionist Roles
The advent of AI in the transcription industry is also bringing about changes in a transcriptionist’s overall role. Before AI, transcriptionists would handle all the duties associated with creating transcripts of audio or video files. With the rising popularity of AI, however, some transcription companies have no choice but to adapt and change the role of a human transcriptionist.
Nowadays, instead of focusing most of their energies on creating the transcriptions themselves, AI transcription has allowed human transcribers to settle into more specialized roles within the industry. For instance, someone who was once a transcriptionist can now focus more on proofreading and editing instead to ensure that the AI transcript is still accurate to the recording it was taken from.
Remember; AI transcripts aren’t perfect and mistakes will often occur, especially if the recording has complex audio. As such, expert transcriptionists who can polish transcripts of audio recordings will always be in demand.
Industry Careers
Another change artificial intelligence brings to the transcription industry is increased career options. One viable career option that AI has created for the transcription market is AI Training and Development, where transcriptionists who are well-versed in language and transcription can help train and develop AI models. By doing so, they can further improve the accuracy of the AI that audio transcription services use.
Another career that AI created for the industry is consulting. Here, experienced transcriptionists can advise businesses on properly integrating AI tools into transcription workflows efficiently and effectively.
Challenges of AI in the Transcription Industry
Accuracy Issues
One of the most prominent challenges that AI faces within the transcription industry is accuracy. According to Forbes, as of 2024, AI systems in transcription have an average error rate of 12% compared to human transcriptions. With such a considerable margin of error, transcripts with such inaccuracies can cause problems for one’s work, especially in fields such as market research or legal.
AI transcripts experience accuracy issues for a variety of reasons. For instance, AI sometimes has difficulty transcribing recordings with excessive background noise, multiple speakers, and even accents. In these cases, the AI system becomes confused, causing errors in the transcript.
In addition, current AI systems lack contextual understanding and often struggle with industry-specific jargon. This is because AI usually relies on patterns and algorithms to work. Unfortunately, this often leads to errors in the AI transcription that can severely impede someone’s progress on their projects.
Ethical Considerations
Another challenge of AI in the transcription industry is the ethical considerations and questions it raises. Mainly, this pertains to concerns surrounding privacy and data security. As AI systems require access to sensitive and confidential audio files, some are concerned about how the data will be stored, processed, and protected. Understandably, this can deter people from turning to AI to get their transcripts done.
It can't be denied that artificial intelligence has brought numerous changes to the transcription industry. Some may see these changes as good, while others may be more reluctant to accept them. Regardless, as it stands, AI still has its flaws, and as such, it may not be the best option for your transcription needs. Therefore, if you need transcripts, it’s best to turn to transcription services like TranscriptionWing.
TranscriptionWing is a reliable transcription service that promises to deliver precise and accurate transcriptions. With 25 years of experience, our all-human team of experts is trusted across various industries. Order your transcripts today and choose a turnaround time that best suits your project’s needs.
