5 AI Transcription Mistakes That Would Embarrass Any Business

AI transcription tools promise speed and affordability - but at what cost?

If you've ever laughed at a ridiculous autocorrect fail, you already know the risks of relying on AI to handle important business content. When accuracy matters (and it always does in business), a real human touch makes all the difference.

Here are five common AI transcription mistakes that could seriously embarrass your business - and why professional human transcriptionists, like the team at OutSec, are the better choice.

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1. Mixing Up Homophones ("their" vs "they're")

AI struggles with context. It can't always distinguish between “there,” “their,” and “they’re.” In a transcript, this kind of error looks sloppy and unprofessional—and can even change the meaning of your message.

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2. Mangled Names and Brands

AI often mishears and misspells personal names, company names, and brand terms - especially if they're less common or have unique spellings. Imagine sending an investor meeting transcript where the company name is wrong. It's not just embarrassing - it could damage trust.

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3. Failure to Understand Technical Language

Specialised vocabulary in industries like medical, legal, or technology sectors often leaves AI guessing. It might confidently churn out plausible-sounding nonsense - leading to errors that can cost serious time and money to fix later.

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4. Missing Emotional Context

Human transcribers pick up subtle cues: sarcasm, emphasis, humour. AI doesn’t understand tone or irony. Without human interpretation, your transcripts can lose the nuance that’s crucial in meetings, interviews, or market research.

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5. Incompleteness and Dropouts

AI is prone to simply skipping over unclear sections of audio, resulting in gaps, missing sentences, or awkward, incomplete transcripts. A human, by contrast, flags unclear areas and works to fill them in correctly - or clarifies if needed.

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AI transcription might be tempting, but when it comes to accuracy, nuance, confidentiality, and professionalism, nothing beats a real human transcriber.

At OutSec, we combine human expertise with secure, GDPR-compliant processes - delivering clear, precise, business-ready transcripts every time.

Don’t risk your brand reputation with cut-price AI. Trust the humans.