Anybody using otter.ai?

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

I've yet to have a good experience with Otter. It does not come close to 100% accuracy, so you're either wasting time cleaning shirt up on deadline, or wasting time cleaning shirt up on a longer transcript. Better to just listen to the recording and grab what you need on deadline or grin and bear it and transcribe a longer recording so that you don't have to waste time on the back end re-listening and cleaning up the mistakes.

 

[SoloFlyer]

I've yet to have a good experience with Otter. It does not come close to 100% accuracy, so you're either wasting time cleaning shirt up on deadline, or wasting time cleaning shirt up on a longer transcript. Better to just listen to the recording and grab what you need on deadline or grin and bear it and transcribe a longer recording so that you don't have to waste time on the back end re-listening and cleaning up the mistakes.

The transcription helps me jump through an interview on deadline. You can click or tap on a word in a conversation and pick up the audio from there, and if it needs cleaned up, it's easier to do that in small chunks than scrubbing through the entire interview.

It's not perfect, but it's solid as long as the audio quality is half decent.

 

[Twirling Time]

Are you a bot? You seem like a bot.

You mean like Drip seemed to be like Boots?

 

[John]

The transcription helps me jump through an interview on deadline. You can click or tap on a word in a conversation and pick up the audio from there, and if it needs cleaned up, it's easier to do that in small chunks than scrubbing through the entire interview.

It's not perfect, but it's solid as long as the audio quality is half decent.

This has pretty much been my experience, too. It definitely helps me with interviews lasting more than 20 minutes, and I do a lot of those. Any parts that are clearly a bit off or read different from what I remember, I'll go back and listen. I've come around from my initial reaction to it.

 

[Danwriter]

Been using https://turboscribe.ai/

Very accurate.

Rev.com —fast, ~90% accurate (even for the tech stuff), and $0.25/minute.

 

[Bubbler]

That sounds like a great tool! I haven't used otter.ai myself, but the idea of automating transcription seems like a real time-saver, especially for interviews, meetings, and press conferences. The fact that it can work with Zoom and YouTube recordings is particularly useful, as it removes the need for manual transcription.

I imagine it would be a big help if you're dealing with a lot of audio or video content, and it could really streamline the reporting process. I'd love to hear more about how it works once you get a chance to test it out. If it lives up to the hype, it could be a game changer for many people in content creation, journalism, and even business.

I put it to you that you have disobeyed the prime directive. You are harmful to the body.

As for Otter, I use it, but within reason. If you're expecting perfect transcripts, forget it. If you want something that saves you some typing at times, it's useful.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

You mean like Drip seemed to be like Boots?

Stay on topic and have a happy Otter day.

 

[Bubbler]

Also, the recording device built in on most iPhones will do a transcript now too. It's very basic, but can be helpful.

The transcript itself is far from perfect, and none of these transcripts should ever go into a story without time-consuming vetting by the reporter, but as others have noted, it's useful if you're trying to find something quickly.