Transcription Errors

Introduction

While NoteWave uses advanced AI technology, transcription errors can still occur. This guide explains common transcription issues, why they happen, and how to improve accuracy.

Understanding AI Limitations

AI transcription is not perfect. Understanding its limitations helps set realistic expectations.

Always Verify Important Content

AI-generated transcripts may contain errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or misinterpretations. Never rely solely on AI transcripts for legal, financial, medical, or other critical decisions without human verification.

Common Transcription Errors

Certain types of errors occur more frequently than others:

Homophones

Words that sound alike ("their" vs "there", "to" vs "too") may be transcribed incorrectly.

Technical Terms

Industry-specific jargon, acronyms, or specialized vocabulary may be misrecognized.

Proper Names

Person names, company names, and place names may be misspelled or misheard.

Speaker Identification Issues

Speaker diarization (identifying who said what) can fail when voices are similar or overlap.

Common speaker identification problems:

Merging multiple speakers into one label (Speaker 1)
Splitting one person into multiple speakers (Speaker 1, Speaker 3)
Misattributing dialogue to the wrong person
Missing speaker changes when people interrupt quickly

Manual Correction

Use the speaker mapping feature in the transcript editor to manually correct speaker labels and merge/split speakers as needed.

Language Selection

Selecting the correct language is critical for accuracy.

Best practices:

Always specify the primary language of the meeting
For multilingual meetings, choose the dominant language
Auto-detect works but may be less accurate than manual selection
Accents and dialects within a language are supported automatically

NoteWave supports 99+ languages. If your language isn't directly supported, the system falls back to auto-detect mode.

Improving Transcription Accuracy

Follow these guidelines to maximize transcription quality:

Audio Quality - Use good microphones and minimize background noise
Clear Speech - Speak clearly at a moderate pace; avoid mumbling
Single Speaker - Avoid multiple people talking simultaneously
Proper Language - Select the correct language before processing
Longer Audio - AI performs better with longer context (5+ minutes)

Making Manual Corrections

You can edit transcripts directly in the NoteWave interface to fix errors.

Inline Editing

Click any text in the transcript to edit it. Changes save automatically.

Speaker Mapping

Rename speakers from "Speaker 1" to actual names for clarity.

All edits are tracked and applied when exporting to PDF or Word, ensuring your corrections are preserved.

Context & Domain-Specific Content

AI may struggle with highly specialized content without proper context.

Technical Meetings

For meetings with heavy technical jargon, medical terminology, legal language, or industry-specific terms, expect higher error rates. Plan for manual review and correction.

When to Retry Processing

If transcription quality is very poor, consider these options:

Different Language - Try selecting a different language if auto-detect chose incorrectly
Better Audio - Re-record or use a higher quality audio file if available
Processing Error - If transcription failed midway, delete and re-upload
Contact Support - For persistent issues, contact us with the transcript ID

Known Limitations

Some scenarios are particularly challenging for AI transcription:

Heavy accents or non-native speakers (may reduce accuracy)
Very short utterances (under 2 seconds)
Extreme background noise or poor audio quality
Code switching (mixing multiple languages in one sentence)
Whispered or very quiet speech
Songs, music, or non-speech audio