Can you trust Speech-to-Text AI to produce transcripts of evidential quality?

AI technology needs further development for legal and medical transcripts

Apple Transcription is encouraging personnel in the legal and medical sectors to avoid relying solely on artificial intelligence (AI), to maintain high levels of accuracy and security.

With the technology becoming increasingly prevalent in the industry, the company, which has 150 years’ combined experience, is stressing that it is still at the development stage.

As a result, this can impact whether copy will be produced verbatim, and therefore create potential problems.

Christine Vaughan, a director at Apple Transcription, cites how professionals should be aware that AI alone cannot always deliver on evidential quality, meaning that a transcript may not be admissible as evidence in a court of law.

She said: “While this modern approach presents plenty of opportunities, it’s important to remember that it can miss nuances and has the potential to produce errors, and as a result, key information could slip through the net – this is where a human editor comes in.

“From non-verbal communication and every ‘erm’ and ‘er’, right through to the specific facts, all aspects of a recording must be transcribed when preparing documents for a patient or client.

“While the prospect of AI is incredibly interesting, it has a way to go with spotting sentiment. There’s still a need for a human editor so the end user can trust what’s being delivered.”

Apple Transcription also advises what to look for when identifying a third party for speech to text services, with duty of care to clients being a key priority.

As sensitive documents are being handled, a willingness to review transcription work and double-check the quality should also be shown.

Christine continued: “From a legal perspective, a lawyer or solicitor wants to be secure in the knowledge that they’ll get a transcript that is of evidential quality, otherwise it could have a negative impact on a case.

“Often working to tight deadlines, there may be no time for a client in this sector to personally review a recording against the transcript, but the two elements must match exactly.”

Apple Transcription’s feedback from clients often mentions accuracy, speed, and security as the most important factors for this type of service, all of which are priorities for the business.

The company has a secure online portal with end-to-end encryption, which it constantly reviews, to ensure safe sharing of recordings and documents.

For more than a decade, it has retained critical accreditations, including International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 9001 Quality and 27001 Data Security, as well as Cyber Essentials, all of which reinforce its approach to high standard transcriptions and safeguarding client data.

Christine added: “We work hard to retain our ISO certifications, which are recognised globally and help to signify that we’re a service that you can put your faith in.

“If you’re from the legal or medical sector, we would always recommend looking out for a firm that has ISO recognition – so you can trust it is going to deliver an accurate and secure transcript.”

Speak to the Apple team today to find out how they can help with transcription needs.