this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2024
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Why is generative AI even needed for audio transcription? We’ve had decent voice recognition tools for years even on cheap consumer grade stuff.
We also used to have decent web searches!
Because with normal algorithms you have someone to blame.
AI is a trick to hide when you steer the results the way you want.
No, we really haven’t had on-device voice recognition that meets any definition of “decent”. Anything reasonable phones out to “the cloud” for decent voice recognition.
So? I'd rather have my software talk to a server than be downright wrong just so another business can climb onto the AI bandwagon.
Whisper really is a lot better when it works, and it's free. The problem is that it refuses to produce gibberish or give up when it doesn't work. You'll always need an editor.
The toaster oven I just invented works much better than a traditional one. It reheats French fries perfectly, you can dehydrate in it, makes succulent roasted chicken, and about 2.5% of the time it burns down your house. You'll always need to keep an eye on it to make sure that doesn't happen. Remember though, much better than a traditional one.
You need an editor for traditional transcription tools too :) and it's A LOT more work. They don't even do punctuation or names.
Can I try the chicken before I make a decision?
This definition of "better" feels like claiming that a Beeper that's constantly hooked to power is the perfect alarm because it warns you every time someone is trying to break in - while entirely ignoring that it is just constantly blaring.
I use it for generating subtitles. It figures out context, it ignores stuttering, it does punctuation etc. It's really is just better. With clean audio it transcribes like a human does.
It does better than other techniques with dirty audio, but when it fails it fails weird, which is the big issue here.
Because AI!