RESTON, Va., July 15, 2024 — The National Court Reporters
Association (NCRA), the country’s leading organization representing
stenographic court reporters, captioners, and legal videographers,
is closely monitoring an ongoing situation in Ohio where artificial
intelligence (AI) is being implemented in a county courtroom. This
comes after Summit County Domestic Relations Court has received a
$9,500 grant from the Ohio Supreme Court to purchase AI
transcribing equipment according to a July 10 article from WOSU
Public Media based in Columbus, Ohio.
“The consequences of relying on artificial intelligence to
capture the spoken word are unprecedented and frankly, unreliable,
which is exactly why NCRA is closely monitoring this situation in
Ohio in coordination with our Government Relations Department to
craft a strong and aggressive grassroots campaign to prevent
further proliferation of AI in Ohio courtrooms,” said NCRA
Executive Director Dave Wenhold, CAE, PLC,
NCRA previously published a white paper dedicated to raising
awareness on the potential impact of AI in court rooms late last
year. It has since been cited by CNBC, Reuters, and others.
“The opportunity for misuse of AI in the creation of courtroom
transcripts vis-à-vis deepfakes or other forms of manipulation are
simply too high to be implemented in Ohio courtrooms, nonetheless
at any level in our nation’s judiciary,” said NCRA President
Kristin M. Anderson, MA, RPR, CRI, FCRR. “Care, custody, and
control are lost when AI is implemented in a courtroom. That is
simply unacceptable as well as unprecedented in terms of ensuring
equal justice for all under the law,” she added.
The court reporter is the official officer creating the verbatim
record of a proceeding. NCRA members are certified professionals
who are dedicated guardians of the record, adhering to strict
ethical guidelines and industry standards.
A recent, prominent example of the failures of digital
transcription can be cited in the third week of the Alex Murdaugh
double murder trial, where both the prosecution and defense teams
lambasted court transcripts generated digitally while noting the
reliable services of professional court reporters typically
retained in the South Carolina court. View the working list of
recent digital failures in other national, well-known cases
compiled by the NCRA here.
“NCRA will remain vigilant in monitoring the ongoing situation
in Ohio, as well as the entire country on behalf of our members in
the court reporting, professional captioning, and legal videography
community,” said NCRA President-Elect Keith R. Lemons, FAPR, RPR,
CRR (Ret.) “The same week the news broke in Ohio, the NCRA Board of
Directors announced their support for my proposed rapid response
team called the Government Relations Team (GRT),” he added.
The new GRT team will assist NCRA’s Government Relations staff
in reviewing state and federal legislative and regulatory actions
and suggest grassroots efforts to help our members out in the
states. “Ohio very well might meet the tip of this spear if AI is
further implemented in their state,” added Lemons.
NCRA is celebrating its quasquicentennial and will be hosting
their annual Conference & Expo at the Galt House Hotel in
Louisville, Ky., August 1-3, 2024. With more than 12,000 active
members, NCRA has been delivering effective advocacy at all levels
of government through grassroot mobilization campaigns, federal
lobbying, as well as legislative and regulative monitoring.
Court reporters and captioners rely on the latest in technology
to use stenographic machines to capture the spoken word and
translate it into written text in real time. These professionals
work both in and out of the courtroom recording legal cases and
depositions, providing live captioning of events, and assisting
members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities with gaining
access to information, entertainment, educational opportunities,
and more.
If you’re looking for a career that is on the cutting edge of
technology, offers the opportunity for work at home or abroad, like
to write, enjoy helping others, and are fast with your fingers,
then the fields of court reporting and captioning are careers you
can explore at NCRA/discoversteno.org.
The NCRA A to Z® Intro to Steno Machine Shorthand program, a
free online six-week introductory course, lets participants see if
a career in court reporting or captioning would be a good choice
for them. The program is an introduction to stenographic theory and
provides participants with the opportunity to learn the basics of
writing on a steno machine. There is no charge to take the course,
but participants are required to have access to a steno machine or
an iPad they can use to download the iStenoPad app.
To arrange an interview with a working court reporter,
captioner, legal videographer, or a current court reporting
student, or to learn more about the lucrative and flexible court
reporting or captioning professions and the many job opportunities
currently available, contact pr@ncra.org.
About NCRA The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA) has
been internationally recognized for promoting excellence among
those who capture and convert the spoken word to text for125 years.
NCRA is committed to supporting its more than 12,000 members in
achieving the highest level of professional expertise with
educational opportunities and industry-recognized court reporting,
educator, and videographer certification programs. NCRA impacts
legislative issues and the global marketplace through its actively
involved membership. NCRA’s STRONG Committee promotes stenographic
captioning and court reporting as the best means to maintain the
accuracy of the record. One of its missions is to combat false
proclamations that digital and automatic speech recognition (ASR)
methods of capturing the spoken word are equal to superior to
stenographic means and/or that these methods are less
expensive.
Forbes has named court reporting as one of the best career
options that do not require a traditional four-year degree. The
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the court reporting
field is expected to be one of the fastest areas of projected
employment growth across all occupations. According to
247/WallSt.com, the court reporting profession ranks sixth out of
25 careers with the lowest unemployment rate, just 0.7 percent.
Career information about the court reporting profession—one of the
leading career options that do not require a traditional four-year
degree—can be found at NCRA DiscoverSteno.org.
Annemarie Roketenetz
National Court Reporters Association
7039696363
aroketenetz@ncra.org