The Trail: Activity #1
A Guide to Using AI Transcription Tools
Hey there! Jon Cline here. I’m excited to walk you through something I’m really passionate about – how to use AI transcription tools without giving away your superpower as a human.
What We’re Doing Here
Look, AI transcription is everywhere now, right? Zoom meetings, Google Meet, those fancy new AI note-taking apps – they all promise to save you time by handling the grunt work of turning speech into text. And that’s great! I use these tools myself.
But here’s the thing – and this is crucial – there’s a massive difference between what AI captures and what you can observe as a human being. I call this your “people-first power,” and it’s the thing that will keep you valuable and effective no matter how advanced AI gets.
In this project, we’re going to get hands-on with transcription tools, but with a twist. I’ll show you how to use them while protecting and strengthening your people-first skills. As I like to say, “AI should be a cape on your back, not an escape from your life.”
What's in it for you? You'll walk away knowing:
A system for using AI without becoming dependent on it
What AI transcription misses that you can catch
How to build better relationships by noticing what others don't
Techniques for becoming the person everyone wants on their team
What You’ll Need
Nothing fancy required here:
Tools
Any meeting platform with transcription (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams), or dedicated tools like Otter.ai
Materials:
Access to some team meetings or conversations (I’ll provide a sample if you don’t have your own)
Documents:
Any collaborative tool that tracks changes (Google Docs, Office 365, etc.)
That’s it! No coding, no special hardware, just your brain and some common tools.
The Steps to acquiring a wise uncle
Step 1: Understanding What’s At Stake
First, let me tell you why this matters so much.
When we rely too heavily on AI tools like…