Otter transcribes my life, and I just can’t quit it

Otter is an AI-powered transcription service and app, and I use it every time I interview someone. Even in a group setting, it’s the perfect tool for a journalist: it records and transcribes what people are saying, identifies the speaker, and allows me to click on the transcribed text and hear the recorded audio, just to check up on it.

Otter even offers AI services, so I can see an AI-generated summary of the conversation and what needs to happen next. Yesterday, my wife complained that the secretary of a non-profit she volunteers at had quit, forcing her to record the minutes of a meeting. My next step? Demonstrating Otter.

So, why should you use Otter? Otter lets you focus on the meeting instead of taking notes if you get called in for a quick standup or one-on-one with your boss. Otter generates those automatically! I find it extremely useful for personal meetings, too: making sense of a doctor’s visit, for example, or with a school counselor. It even remembers speaker voices from conversation to conversation, so you can “tag” someone. If they’re part of a future conversation, you’ll know.

Anything that could benefit from additional organization—planning a wedding, talking over college finances—is great for Otter. Tap the button, start the transcription recording, and go.

Mark Hachman / Foundry

I’d actually encourage you not to pay for Otter right away. It has a rather generous free plan—300 minutes per month, 30 minutes per conversation—which you can try out on those quick morning meetings. Otherwise, Otter’s business plan starts at $8.33 per month for 1,200 minutes. Otter runs on a phone as well as on the web, so it’s there where you want to work.

Otter is a useful tool, but you’ll want to use it overtly, with the permission of those you’re recording. That’s not only polite but also ensures that you’re not breaking any laws. Most of America allows for “one-party consent” to record a conversation when there is an expectation of privacy—if you know you’re recording, it’s totally legal. Some states—California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and others—require all parties in the conversation to know about and be aware of the recording.

The reason I continue to use Otter? Other services simply don’t deliver the functionality and convenience it does. I simply can’t give it up.