Despite the rise of AI tools, there are still some things humans just do best.
And that applies to transcription in court and law settings, in our opinion, having been a transcription company since 2016.
Simply put, courts and law rely on human transcription because the transcription must be completely accurate.
In this blog, we will explore why human transcription in this setting is so important and why AI doesn’t cut it, at least for now and in these contexts.
Why is human transcription important in legal settings?
No room for error
In courts and law, accuracy is paramount to ensuring a fair trial or case.
Imagine if a case in court was transcribed with inaccuracies by AI and then it led to the case being thrown out or a re-trial.
Legal consequences
Transcriptions that have multiple errors can lead to being sued for damages.
Not only that, but there is also the risk of data protection breaches with AI, depending on how the tools process and store speech and text.
For that reason, human transcription should be used, and it should stand the test of time; or, if AI transcription comes into law, a disclaimer will have to be used.
Reputational damages
This too could be the case if AI errors arise.
AI transcripts could hallucinate, as they have done in the past, and invent a phrase(s), this could then lead to a judge, client or the press looking negatively towards your company.
(It is worth noting that OpenAI, the creators of the tool used, Whisper, warn that it shouldn’t be used in ‘high-risk domains’.)
Can AI do this?
Not perfectly in these settings, at least right now.
It is worth saying that we aren’t against AI transcription, not at all. We are even currently looking into the potential of AI transcription, for example. We just think it’s better suited to other industries, where not so much is on the line.
Rather than dismissing AI transcription, we would simply say that the capability for legal transcription isn’t there currently, but we are excited about developments and seeing how it improves.
Interestingly, in 2023 in India, live transcriptions of Constitution Bench proceedings would be published, with the help of Artificial intelligence (AI) as an experiment.
Additionally, in a March 2025 case in the UK, AI transcription tool Otter.ai repetitively wrongly transcribed a claimant’s name, ‘Noel’, as ‘no’.
In the same case, the defendant turned to professionally certified transcripts of audio files.
So, it’s evident that it is being used in these settings but, as the courts know, AI transcripts can be faulty. We would urge courts to use it with caution and know that there is still a place for humans in courts.
As for law, we think when transcribing non-critical client meetings (if the client has approved it and is aware of the potential risks), AI transcription can be useful in law.
But when it comes to meetings or interviews that will be used in court, human transcription should be used here for guaranteed accuracy.
Conclusion
Both humans and AI can and will coexist in the transcription world.
But in these legal contexts, we’d advise leaning on a trusted transcription company for critical conversations or information.
Contact us or read more about our human transcription services.
