Enhance Speech Transcription Reliability by Finalizing Stable Transcript Segments

[tom-leamon]

Problem Description

Currently, our speech transcription system re-processes the entire transcript with each new audio sample. This continuous re-processing can introduce errors and inefficiencies, especially as the transcript grows in length during long sessions.

Proposed Solution

Implement a "finalization" feature in the transcription process. This feature will:

• Track the stability of transcript segments by counting consecutive confirmations of text accuracy.
• Finalize segments that meet a certain threshold of stability, preventing them from being re-processed in future iterations.
• Reduce computational load by limiting the processing to only unfinalized segments of the transcript.

Benefits

1. Accuracy: Minimize error propagation by keeping confirmed segments unchanged.
2. Performance: Improve processing speed and reduce resource consumption as less text is re-processed.
3. Stability: Provide a more stable transcript output for downstream applications.
4. Efficiency: Maintain system responsiveness in extended audio sessions by managing transcript complexity.

Implementation Steps

1. Modify the mergeTranscripts function to support segment tracking and finalization.
2. Introduce a stability counter for each segment to monitor its confirmation status.
3. Adjust the transcript merging logic to concatenate only unfinalized segments.
4. Implement tests to ensure new functionality does not impact existing features negatively.

Considerations

• Determine the optimal threshold for finalization based on empirical data and system performance.
• Ensure seamless transitions between finalized and non-finalized text.
• Consider feedback mechanisms or machine learning models to adaptively adjust finalization criteria based on transcription confidence.