Why Human Intervention May Be Needed in Automated Transcription

With the introduction of the internet and other advanced technology, digital transcription has changed over the years. Earlier, the task of converting speech to text was done manually. Individuals who were charged with transcribing audio had to listen to the speaker and type out what they heard. But with advanced software and tools, specialized transcription equipment emerged.

Google has launched its latest transcription feature that provides real-time translation of speech into various languages. This new feature is available on the Android version of the Google Translate app at present and they are also planning to expand to other platforms. 

This new feature works like the text version of Google Translate. The transcribe button on the app let you to choose the initial and final language and the audio is then transcribed and translated. This feature was first demonstrated at CES in January. Not all of Google Translate’s languages are available yet but currently the app can translate among English, French, German, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Thai. This feature requires Internet connectivity to transcribe and translate and it’s not sensitive enough to distinguish well between multiple voices. So, it is better to use this app in quieter environments. Google translate is continuing to improve by including more popular languages; it makes some errors in transcription.

This new feature of Google is another aspect of the instant translation feature that Google Assistant brought to Android devices in December.   The translation of text from audio also matches with the Read It feature that Google Assistant introduced at the beginning of March. This enables the voice assistant to read articles and other text directly from a website. It has more language options and can translate the text into 42 languages to read to the user.

All these advancements are examples of AI-powered transcription. Although this technology allows quick transcription of audio files, it has a major drawback. These types of software learn only after making a mistake and correcting it. It takes time to understand nuances, jargon or slang that is often found in audio files. 

Unlike AI, human transcription is done by real people who ensure utmost accuracy in transcription. This is because humans have better understanding than AI. Using humans will ensure the audio to text files are as accurate as possible, and you can allow your time to be freed up so you can focus on more important items such as growing your business. They can handle challenges such as noisy backgrounds, understand different accents and dialects, easily differentiate between homophones and identify any number of individual speakers. 

Even though there are AI-powered transcription facilities available, there are many companies that still rely on manual transcription facility to cross-check the transcription done by automated software. Transcription is the process of converting any audio or video file into text form and business transcription is a service that is growing rapidly in the present world because of the rising need for transparency in the business fields. Therefore, it is important to hire digital transcription agencies that provide reliable and accurate transcripts at affordable rates.

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