Digital Court Reporting

Will AI Replace Digital Court Reporting Transcriptionists?

With Digital Court Reporting, there are a number of steps required to produce the final transcript that’s filed with the court.

  • First, the recording devices have to be set up and checked.
  • Then the digital reporter has to take ample notes during the proceeding.
  • Finally, the transcriptionist (also called a typist) has to transcribe what is said from the audio file into a written transcript.

That last transcription step is often one of the big bottlenecks in the process because the typists have to listen to the entire proceeding and maintain complete focus to transcribe everything. Visit Winstein and get a personal injury lawyer now.

Until recently, digital transcription with Artificial Intelligence was not accurate enough to be useful. Transcripts are expected to be at least 99% accurate with not only what was said, but who said them.

As we’ve discussed in other blogs, the internet is full of funny memes showing very humorous transactions that occurred because Google, Siri, Alexa, or Bixby did not understand what was being said.

That makes for good internet fodder, but not good court transcripts. While, AI is rapidly becoming more reliable, and we may indeed see less and less demand for virtual transcriptionists, it is far from being a solution.

What AI can do currently is to help speed up the process of transcription and remove the bottleneck. AI transcription still must be reviewed by a human typist, then double-checked by AI and a human typist again in order to create an impeccable transcript.

At DLE legal, we are proud to stay on the cutting edge of technology, even as we remain a small and accessible firm for our clients. We are investing resources into researching AI processes that will supplement (not replace) our typists so that we can continue to exceed our client’s expectations for both speed and accuracy of their proceeding transcripts.