Over 76% of companies worldwide are looking to implement artificial intelligence in their business processes. It’s no surprise that lawyers look into AI and its applications to ease their documentation workload, and automated transcription solutions promise lightning-fast results for practical pennies. However, one must wonder whether audio-to-text technology is reliable enough for legal transcription services, especially compared to professional human transcription companies.
So, today, we’ll explore what it really means to use automated transcription solutions in an industry that prioritizes precision.
In this article, you’ll learn how:
- Every word matters in legal settings, as even minor mistakes can have severe implications. This factor alone proves that legal audio-to-text technology can’t be relied on—not yet.
- Multiple speakers, background noise, accents, punctuation, and difficult-to-understand legal terminology are present in almost every legal proceeding, and our current AI technology struggles with these.
- Human transcriptionists remain superior to AI in terms of legal transcription due to our contextual understanding and ability to handle legal demands. This will likely stay the case for a long time.
Why Is Accuracy Important In Legal Transcription?
I can’t stress this enough. A single misplaced word, an incorrectly transcribed number, or even a single misinterpreted pause can affect legal cases in a way that no one is prepared for—they can compromise innocent people’s lives!
Having witnessed how lawyers and other legal professionals rely on transcripts for legal proceedings like appeals or case preparation, I’ve understood how accurate transcription helped form the foundation of our current legal system.
Legal transcripts are definitive records of what transpired in the courtrooms, and even the smallest mistakes could lead to issues similar to Cody DeShield’s case—the transcriber incorrectly typed “36 months” instead of “36 years.”
That tiny mistake freed a criminal decades too early. It would have been a happy story if the criminal had taken the chance to become a better individual, but nope. He went on to prove exactly why those extra years mattered: by committing another brutal crime.
Most Common Types of Legal Transcription
There are several types of transcription in legal settings, and the most utilized ones are listed below.
| Types | Description |
| Pleadings | Written statements that outline claims or defenses. |
| Subpoenas | Demands for witness testimony or evidence. |
| Summonses | Official notices to appear in court or respond to legal action. |
| Depositions | Sworn out-of-court testimony from witnesses. |
| Interrogations | Formal questioning sessions, typically in criminal cases. |
| Hearings | Official court proceedings before a judge. |
| Wiretaps and Phone Calls | Recorded conversations obtained through legal surveillance. |
| Memorandums | Internal legal documents outlining case details or arguments. |
Is Legal Audio-to-Text Technology Reliable?
No, not even close. While it’s true that voice recognition systems and other AI-powered solutions have advanced to a point where they can be utilized with almost anything – which is great for many – AI hasn’t yet reached the point where it can be reliable enough for the demanding requirements of the legal field. I’ll explain why.
Speech Recognition Has Trouble with Legal Words
Try explaining quantum physics to your 3rd-grader and see how he processes it; that’s the current state of speech-to-text technology. The exception is if your child is a Sheldon Cooper-level genius.
Don’t get me wrong, though. AI systems can easily handle other administrative tasks. We use them for many automation tasks and even transcribing casual conversations…cause why not? But then again, they stumble upon when confronted with legal terms that even humans (untrained ones) can’t easily comprehend—terms like “res ipsa loquitur” or “voir dire.”
There’s more, and it’s a rather amusing experience, from our actual test. We caught an AI-powered transcription software turning habeas corpus into “have a corpse.” Now, multiply that by an actual legal proceeding—that’s the implication of using AI transcription in legal scenarios.
Multiple Speakers in Court is Too Much for AI
To be fair, even legal transcription rookies struggle when transcribing multiple speakers, much more so in a heated courtroom where everyone just talks over each other.
To put into perspective, court proceedings can sometimes resemble a family reunion—one where many family members compete for validation…a chaotic one. In these scenarios, speech recognition systems just can’t transcribe who said what. It just gets lost in the verbal traffic jam, and it’s not surprising because, again, even human transcribers sometimes struggle in these scenarios.
Let’s say the judge interrupted the defense attorney, who was simultaneously objected to by the prosecutor. What do you think the resulting transcripts would look like? A jumbled mess. To make it worse, AI might label passion objections to a different person or assign a witness testimony to the judge. Not something you’d like to see in your legal transcripts, do you?
Poor Sound Quality Causes Issues With Speech-to-Text Software
We tested many AI-powered transcription solutions, including Otter.ai—not to badmouth them, but one thing I’ve noticed is that background noise is the archnemesis of every speech recognition software.
“Do courtrooms have background noises?”. Yes, my friend. The courtroom’s AC system can sometimes resemble the sound of a jet engine and the perpetual sound of shelling papers (I don’t know how they do it, but you can really hear the shuffling sound in the recordings).
Anyway, regardless of the type of background noise, those will only make achieving accurate transcription nearly impossible with AI-powered solutions. Trust me; I’ve been working with legal recordings for a long time. There’s something with courtrooms’ recording devices that makes the legal proceedings sound like they took place underwater.
And guess what? Even the most expensive AI service providers (with the most “advanced” systems) struggle with less-than-perfect recordings.
Different Accents Confuse AI-Powered Software
Human speech is just beautifully complicated. Not just accent but, speaking pattern, intonation, pronunciation, dialect, colloquialisms, etc. etc. Our speech is so diverse that it’s impossible for the AI of this era to fully comprehend, and it’s totally fair.
Although the most “advanced” transcription systems that we’ve ever tested are actually pretty good with standard American English. It’s a good thing but also a problem. The same system can’t even function properly with a thick Scottish baroque or rapid-fire Louisiana accent. It just malfunctions like you’re trying to run a Cyberpunk 2077 on a minimum-spec PC (for context, Cyber 2077 is a video game with the highest specs requirement right now).
Even so, we’ve attempted to transcribe various accents using other AI transcription services available on the market, and resulted in more comically incorrect interpretations like turning an accented “you’re honor” into a “you’re a goner.”
AI is Not Yet Good at Using Punctuation
Here comes one of the biggest challenges with legal audio-to-text technologies: proper punctuation.
I’ll put it this way. There’s a world of difference between reading something like “I find peace in cooking, children, and fish”, as compared to….you know what I’m about to say. Well, it’s not like we can teach cats about semicolons, right? It’s about the same thing with speech recognition software.
Specifically, AI-powered transcription systems struggle to distinguish whether a pause in your speech is a comma or a period (or maybe you’re just catching your breath). For the same reason, a professional legal transcriptionist is far superior in these cases, not to mention how important contextual understanding is in making legal documents—yes, court transcripts are official legal documents.
Audio-to-Text Can’t Transcribe the Unspoken Elements
Those who’ve spent time in courts long enough understand how critical non-verbal cues are.
Body language, raised eyebrows, facial expressions, and even demonstrative actions are crucial in most legal proceedings. However, even with a video recording, most of these unspoken elements are seemingly invisible to speech-to-text software.
For the same reason, the limitations of audio-to-text systems mean that many important contexts are lost when you simply automate the transcription process. Human transcriptionists, on the other and. can easily note “(Points to exhibit A)” or “(Demonstrates throwing motion).”
Want some reality check? There’s no hope of these nonverbal cues getting transcribed from an audio recording, even with human transcribers, much less with AI. This also highlights the importance of video recording during a court proceeding—but that will be for tomorrow’s discussion.
The Overall Speech-to-Text Accuracy is Limited
Accuracy is important in legal transcription, and I believe I’ve made that point in the last thousand words. Sadly, accuracy—or lack thereof—is also the main reason legal audio-to-text is unreliable.
According to new studies, automated transcription programs have only reached 86% accuracy in BEST conditions. That might be negligible when recording personal notes or a quick dictation on what you want to do after work hours.
However, when you use AI to transcribe real-world audio, expect only about 60% accuracy. That means 400 spoken words out of 1000 are incorrect.
Inaccurate transcription has heavy implications, and AI is not accurate. It won’t take a lawyer to arrive at the most relevant conclusion.
Why Choose Ditto As Your Legal Transcription Service Partner?
If you need a reliable legal audio-to-text technology solution, don’t stress yourself looking for one. Ditto Transcripts offers the best service in the industry. Signing up for our services results in several advantages, including:
Accuracy
Legal transcription inaccuracies can have heavy and far-reaching repercussions. Legal transcripts, especially verbatim ones, are frequently used in court hearings and other legal proceedings. Errors could lead to misinterpretations and have the potential to significantly—and negatively—impact an ongoing court case.
Some companies may offer low prices that reflect their lack of experience, and legal professionals can sometimes unknowingly fall for this trap. Transcripts from such providers are inaccurate and low-quality, as they’re not well-versed in legalese and jargon. Ultimately, dealing with low-quality legal transcription companies will cost you more time, money, and effort.
Never settle for the cheapest, fastest transcriber with the lowest accuracy rates. Choose Ditto; we can produce high-quality legal transcription every time, with 99% guaranteed accuracy rates. Any transcript you receive from us is guaranteed to be ready for use in court or legal research.
100% Human Transcription
In the field, “reliable” legal audio-to-text technologies can only reach around 60% accuracy. Meanwhile, 100% human transcription services like Ditto are more than 99% accurate.
That means human-completed legal transcripts won’t have too many glaring errors, if at all. Verbatim transcription, even with complex legal jargon, is cleanly done. You can reliably use them for any court case with confidence that everything is accurate.
Affordability
Lawyers and professionals understand that quality legal transcription might come with a hefty price, though that price tag shouldn’t say “arm and leg.”
Reliable transcription companies meet their clients’ transcription needs quickly and accurately without charging exorbitant prices. Here at Ditto, we provide costs upfront and are willing to contact clients if the current pricing models don’t match the required work. Additionally, we allow clients pay-as-you-go options without committing to long-term contracts.
Confidentiality And Security Measures
Ditto’s legal transcription service has rigorous security protocols to ensure that every byte of data we receive is kept safe and confidential. Our security measures include:
- Detailed Reporting and Tracking Features
- Individually Defined User Access Levels
- Individual User Names, Passwords, and PINs (immediate deactivation upon request)
- Scaled Network Redundancy
- Virtual Private Network (VPN) Integration
- Dedicated Data Centers
- Encrypting All Data With SSL 256-bit Encryption
- Criminal Background Checks
Ability To Certify Transcripts
Legal transcriptions from depositions, custody hearings, conference calls, client meetings, witness statements, interviews, and other law enforcement transcription documents are common in legal proceedings. Furthermore, transcripts are admissible in court and are often submitted as evidence.
However, transcriptions submitted to the court require proper certification—meaning your transcriptionist must be able to certify their transcripts. Transcript certification has strict requirements, including the transcriber’s capacity to appear in open court and testify under oath. Offshore and automated transcription services, therefore, cannot certify transcripts. We, however, can certify any legal transcript upon request.
Quality Customer Service
With Ditto, you don’t have to worry about your transcribers ghosting you when you need them most. It doesn’t matter if you’re a current or prospective client; call us within normal business hours, and we’ll happily address any of your questions.
Don’t Settle With The Limitations of Speech-to-Text Software
So, is legal audio-to-text technology reliable for transcription? Absolutely not, though there’s no reason to stress yourself about it.
Refine your legal transcripts with Ditto Transcripts! Our expert team offers 99% accuracy, quick turnaround times, and top-notch security for all your transcription needs. With over 14 years of experience, Ditto Transcripts is your top choice for precise, high-quality, and affordable transcription services.
Ditto Transcripts is a Denver, Colorado-based, HIPAA, FINRA, & CJIS-compliant transcription services company that provides fast, accurate, and affordable transcripts for individuals and companies of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote, and ask about our free five-day trial.
