Hold up, this is about a work tool?

The day we all jump the shark, together

Yeah, you read that right, it’s time to tear the sleeves from your shirts and buy a motorcycle from a man with an aggressive smell because this week’s edition of The Rectangle is about some software I use for work.

But, if you will, allow me to explain.

Often, this column is snarky. Fun? Hopefully. Funny? I can only wish. But the matter remains that when you write about tech, it’s hard not to get riled up by the absolute torrent of horseshit the sector sprays all over us.

Despite that, one of my goals with The Rectangle is to search out light amidst this shower of faeces — and that’s why I’m shouting out a web app that has made my life immeasurably better: Otter.ai.

Yeah, it’s a work tool, but so what? We all need to pay the rent, right?

I tried to use an AI image generator to make a picture of a robot otter, but the tool I used sucked and pumped out this low-res piece of shit. The whole experience yanked the soul out of me so completely that I couldn’t bring myself to do it again and create a new picture, so we’re all stuck with this. Don’t blame me, blame technology.

What Otter.ai does is both simple and, underneath, incredibly complex: you upload an audio file and it transcribes it for you.

Noise words are turned to page words. That’s it. But, my god, it’s become utterly indispensable to my life.

As a journalist, a big part of my job is interviewing people for articles. Historically, you take notes as you speak with someone — and, to be honest, I still do this. Old habits die hard, after all.

But Otter.ai makes this process supreme in two specific ways.

The first is knowing that I have an accurate backup of a chat. This makes taking notes less stressful and allows me to engage more with the person I’m speaking with, rather than scrabbling to write down every detail or asking them to repeat themselves.

The second is it makes it far easier to get a holistic view of the conversation. By seeing the whole thing written out, it’s easier to scan the conversation and find interesting points you may have missed during the chat.

As a freelancer, I don’t really have a boss, so I have to imagine myself as both an editor hounding me for the scoop and a belaboured reporter struggling under the pressure. Yes, you could call this some sort of sign that I need help, but I think this newsletter is some form of pound-shop therapy.

Really, though, Otter.ai is pure wizardry. Sometimes, I can’t believe it exists.

I know transcription technology has been around for a while, but that doesn’t make the fact that tools like this can accurately turn the weird noises our mouths make into written word any less miraculous.

The improvement in recent years has been breathtaking, with the web app dealing with different accents and, seemingly, a wider range of words.

Really, Otter.ai is the perfect tool: it makes my life easier — and doesn’t hurt anyone along the way.

It’s a little, trustworthy buddy who helps me help myself (in other words, make some money so I don’t being starving to death and am forced to sell my body for stale, rancid-smelling sandwiches).

Thank you, technology. You’ve done it again.