In today’s digital (often remote or hybrid) business environment, many companies rely on AI-powered tools like Avoma and Fireflies to transcribe their meetings. For most day-to-day operations, these tools suffice. As long as the transcription is “close” to correct and there’s audio to compare against, users are generally content. However, in certain industries, the stakes are much higher, and accurate transcription isn’t just preferred — it’s paramount.
Legal proceedings, medical records, academic research, and law enforcement investigations are just a few areas where even minor transcription errors can have significant consequences. In these fields, the nuances of human communication — context, tone, and subtle linguistic differences — can make or break a case, a study, or an entire investigation.
According to Ben Walker, CEO of Ditto Transcripts, there is only one foolproof way to ensure 100% accuracy — humans.
Human Expertise vs. AI Transcription
While AI has made significant strides in transcription technology, human transcriptionists still outperform their digital counterparts in many scenarios, particularly those involving multiple speakers or complex audio content.
“In nearly all scenarios, AI transcription is at par or inferior to human transcription,” Walker explains. “Only slow and clear audio with no background noises can come close to human transcription, and even then, punctuation still needs to be manually corrected. Human transcription is superior in every scenario involving two or more speakers. It’s the only option if you value accuracy.”
Walker highlights specific issues with AI transcriptions: “AI often misspells homonyms like ‘there,’ ‘their,’ and ‘they’re’ because it doesn’t understand context. It also frequently misidentifies speakers.”
Human transcriptionists bring a level of contextual understanding and linguistic expertise that current AI models struggle to match. They can effectively navigate accents, dialects, industry-specific jargon, and background noise, resulting in higher accuracy rates for complex audio content.
Transcription Security
And extreme accuracy isn’t the only reason businesses may choose to work with human transcriptionists — security is also a major concern. Many major transcription companies — those that use AI, humans, or a mixture of the two — leverage international support to keep costs low and use repository systems, wherein all audio files requiring transcription go into our big repository, where any transcriptionist can access them. While this may be fine for companies that do not work with confidential or sensitive information, if you’re dealing with someone’s medical information, an ongoing court case, or a criminal investigation, a data leak can be dire. Not only is there a risk to the people whose data was leaked, but there is also a major risk to the business.
Beyond the negative press or reputation impacts of a data leak, there are also major fines and disciplinary actions that can be imposed on businesses that break compliance standards. HIPAA violations can result in expensive fines, upwards of $1M, and prison time for malicious or careless actors.
Criminal Justice Information Security (CJIS) compliance standards are even more stringent than HIPAA, mandating that all individuals who transcribe criminal justice content be U.S. citizens who reside in the U.S. and pass criminal background tests. Furthermore, to be CJIS compliant, all transcription data servers must be stored in the United States. Lastly, AI is not currently covered under CJIS instruction, so human transcriptionists are required to ensure compliance.
“Our systems are HIPAA and CJIS compliant, with file auditing capabilities to track user access,” Walker notes, highlighting the importance of security in handling sensitive information. “Recordings and transcripts are restricted to the original uploader and are temporarily available to the transcriptionist only while creating a transcript.”
The Future of Transcription
As AI technology continues to advance, the transcription landscape is likely to evolve. Some companies are already exploring hybrid models that combine AI efficiency with human accuracy. Walker mentions, “We do not right now, although we are testing this with medical transcriptions to see how it does.”
While AI-powered transcription tools will undoubtedly continue to improve and find wider application in many business contexts, the need for high-accuracy human transcription in specialized fields is likely to persist for the foreseeable future. The challenge for the industry will be to strike the right balance between technological advancement and the irreplaceable aspects of human linguistic expertise.
In a world where the interplay between human expertise and artificial intelligence continues to shape industries, transcription serves as a compelling case study. It illustrates that while AI can significantly enhance efficiency in many areas, there remain fields where the human touch isn’t just an added value — it’s an essential component of the service itself.
Elizabeth Walker is a contributor at Grit Daily. She covers topics like business, entrepreneurship, tech, and leadership.
