#185 Processing 20 Million Minutes of Audio and Video Speech-to-Text With Sebastien Pare

SlatorPod

Sebastien Pare, CEO of VIQ Solutions, joins SlatorPod to discuss the evolution of transcription for multi-speaker content in challenging legal and regulatory settings.
Sebastien explained that VIQ initially started in Canada and expanded to other Commonwealth countries, focusing on courts thanks to their need for advanced audio and video solutions.
The conversation delved into the challenges of working with multi-speaker content and Sebastien highlighted the importance of AI in enhancing transcription accuracy, especially in industries where the quality of the source material varies widely.
Sebastien addressed linguistic challenges in the transcription industry, including dealing with varying speech quality, jargon, local dialects, and slang. He highlighted VIQ's flexibility in working seamlessly with third-party technologies and its commitment to offering various pricing models.
Sebastien also discusses the challenges of operating a public listing (the company on September 30, 2023, announced it will stop its dual listing on Nasdaq but remain listed in Toronto). He also touched upon the impact of the AI hype, buyer expectations, and the macroeconomic environment on VIQ's operations.
The discussion shifted to the shortage of court reporters and transcriptionists, where Sebastien explained how VIQ is attracting younger talent from diverse backgrounds and leveraging AI to increase productivity.
Sebastien shared some developments in VIQ's roadmap as they plan to enhance their summarization capabilities, and further localize their platform for different regions and languages.

Chapters

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Journey to Joining VIQ Solutions (00:01:16)

3. Market Focus (00:03:32)

4. Evolution of Speech-to-Text (00:05:20)

5. Key Milestones (00:06:58)

6. Profile of Editors (00:11:55)

7. Linguistic Challenges (00:16:42)

8. Thoughts on Whisper (00:20:24)

9. Overview of Products and Pricing (00:23:42)

10. Journey as a Public Company and Impact of AI Hype (00:27:44)

11. Court Reporter Shortage and How VIQ is Handling It (00:35:03)

12. Roadmap Going Into 2024 (00:40:08)