Otter.ai is a transcription app powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Otter.ai gives you the ability to transcribe audio, whether in person or digitally online.

We’ve been quite impressed with the app and although it isn’t currently DSA funded, it is available completely free for up to 600 minutes per month.

If you require more minutes you can upgrade to 6000 minutes for $8.33 per month, but students can benefit from 50% off this price.  So you are looking at roughly £4.00 per month (depending on exchange rate) for 6000 minutes of transcription. That could equate to 100 hour long lectures each month…A great deal in our opinion.

Possible ways to use Otter…

Taking Notes

This is one of the most dreaded, yet indispensable parts of the University experience and Otter can help take some of the stress away. If you struggle to concentrate on the discussion and make notes at the same time, then Otter can be trusted to faithfully transcribe full conversations. Using Otter you can also add pictures and images that could help make recall and study easier.

Transcribing Research Interviews

Otter gives you the freedom to worry about the truly important stuff. This means that it handles the grunt work of interview transcriptions and gives you the time to focus on analysis and result interpretations in your field of study.

Students with Hearing Impairments

Otter can also aid students who have a hearing impairment. This service faithfully captures and transcribes all verbal information, giving students with impaired hearing the ability to easily make notes. The app could also be used in non-academic settings to aid in communication.

Benefiting from Podcasts

Times have changed, and these days it is equally likely to come across academic nuggets in podcasts as it is to hear them spoken in the lecture hall. Otter can be used to transcribe information from digital media such as podcasts, audiobooks or YouTube video.

Conclusion

Otter is a great, cost effective tool that has the potential to really aid you in your studies and make your life easier.

Visit https://otter.ai/ to learn more.

For some other awesome free tools that can aid you in your studies, check out our blog posts on Forest, Freedom and Grammarly.