The Atlantic

When AI Can Transcribe Everything

Tech companies are rapidly developing tools to save people from the drudgery of typing out conversations—and the impact could be profound.
Source: Kai Pfaffenbach / Reuters

What is the best way to describe Rupert Murdoch having a foam pie thrown at his face? This wasn’t much of a problem for the world’s press, who were content to run articles depicting the incident during the media mogul’s testimony at a 2011 parliamentary committee hearing as everything from high drama to low comedy. It was another matter for the hearing’s official transcriptionist. Typically, a transcriptionist’s job only involves typing out the words as they were actually said. After the pie attack—either by choice or hemmed in by the conventions of house style—the transcriptionist decided to go the simplest route by marking it as an “[interruption].”  

Across professional fields, a whole multitude of conversations—meetings, interviews, and conference calls—need to be transcribed and recorded for future reference. This can be a daily, onerous task, but for those willing to pay,

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