Just like other things, the justice system is also changing and so its future. Artificial intelligence will inevitably reshape how we work and what jobs are available in court reporting, but not just yet. Court reporters may become a thing of the past as AI becomes more widespread and gains access to legal documents that would have taken lifetimes for humans to read through on their own during this time period – which raises a question will court reporters become obsolete?
In May 2016, 17,700 Americans held jobs as court reporters. This number has been decreasing steadily for the past 5 years and in 2019 reached a low of 14,530 – 20% less than what it was just five short years ago. The decrease is due to artificial intelligence (AI) that automatically transcribes proceedings with minimal human input from now-redundant professionals such as journalists or stenographers who are often subject themselves to AI transcription software tools like IBM’s Watson SpeechtoText.
This tool converts spoken words into text documents at blazing speed and speeds up the process by 30%. Regardless of these changes however, there still remains many opportunities for those seeking careers in this field. Because new technologies will inevitably need upkeep so more people may be employed maintaining them thereby continuing.
In the COVID-19 pandemic, court reporters became scarce and budgets were stretched. However, with a growing backlog of cases after one year of COVID-19 now being faced by courts around America, it’s not uncommon to find many automated transcription services in an effort to keep up with demand for transcripts quickly due to their dwindling supply.
COVID 19 has caused major problems for legal systems all over North America which is why they are investing more into technology that can provide speedy transcriptions so as not to be justify behind in this emerging issue.
Important Things to Know about the Rise of Digital Court Reporting and Its Impact
1.) AI May Not Replace Court Reporters, But It Will Change How They Do Their Jobs
Court reporters are not being replaced by AI. In fact, the number of court reporter jobs is expected to increase 9% between 2019-2029 according to BLS data on occupational outlooks and projections. Court reporters will work with automated technology rather than be displaced by it as they take detailed notes or clarify key elements like illegible sounds or names that were mentioned in proceedings undertaken using an automatic transcription system (e.g., speech recognition software).
2.) Is It Something New?
When Camille Jones was the first person with hearing loss to sit on a jury in 1995, she had access to communication assistance real time translation (CART) technology. It may have been heavy and cumbersome at the time but it didn’t stop her from being part of this revolutionary case that revolutionized courtroom experience for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing people like herself.
In 1996, Government Technology talked about how audio and video recordings combined with computer-assisted transcription were “changing the job of court reporters” in systems with high case loads and tight budgets. Over time this has evolved to be more seamless for the courtroom, as well today they provide greater accuracy and speed.
3.) How AI Is Helping Typist?
Court reporters are the modern day equivalent of typists, and their skills have been honed to make them capable of typing at speeds that would cause most people’s fingers to cramp. But now with AI assistants by their side for transcription work- it doesn’t even matter how fast they type! They can do up to 30% faster than usual because all the tedious formatting is done automatically.
So What Are The Outcomes Of This?
With a significant number of our court reporters being able to capture the record using more than one method, we are able to ensure that all scheduled terms of court may proceed and that the record of those proceedings is captured.
The South Carolina Court Administration’s Ginny Jones told The Greenville News: “Today with these new technologies we can offer jurors in remote areas an opportunity for live testimony.”
New York has taken similar steps by training its court reporters who work alongside digital reporting technology. This way they pave the way towards a future which combines Artificial Intelligence skills with human ones – making sure every single person involved gets their fair say!
Court reporters have always been an integral part of the legal system, and will continue to be in years ahead. By using technology like everyone else these days does – such as a smart phone – court reporters are given more resources which they need for accuracy and efficiency.
Should Court People Fear From AI?
That was the question which once again raised after a long time. The debate is going on to face every emerging technology there are always people who fear about their employment and what will happen with them when these new technologies come into effect.
This time it is not about artificial intelligence, but a future of digital court reporting or e-court reporter which has got many people to discuss about its effect on court reporters’ jobs not completely but somewhat.
