If you’ve ever had to transcribe a 45-minute interview, you know what it feels like to get lost in an ocean of “uh…,” long pauses, and half-finished sentences. It’s not just tedious—it eats up time you could be spending on research, writing, or other tasks.
Luckily, there are now tools that do most of this work for you. At Datasketch, we’ve tested them enough to recommend three that combine accuracy, speed, and—most importantly—extra features that go beyond simply turning audio into text.
1. Google Pinpoint
Google Pinpoint is part of Google Journalist Studio and was designed for journalists working with large amounts of information and different types of files. You can upload audio or video, and within minutes you’ll have a transcript. It can also transcribe text from images and PDF documents.
What’s interesting is that it doesn’t stop there: Pinpoint identifies people, places, and organizations mentioned, making it easy to quickly search across hours of recordings.
What we like most: The ability to handle large volumes of material without making your computer sound like it’s about to take off. Best for: Long-form reporting, collaborative investigations, and primary source analysis.
2. Notebook LM
Notebook LM is Google’s AI-powered research tool. It works as a research assistant that listens to your audio and helps you make sense of it. Beyond transcription, it can summarize content, highlight key ideas, and even suggest follow-up interview questions.
This is especially useful if you’re working with multiple files and want to spot patterns or connect topics without having to read every single transcript.
What we like most: It goes beyond “copy and paste”; it helps structure your story. Best for: Journalists who want to move from raw recordings to draft writing with fewer intermediate steps.
3. Canva
The design platform Canva also makes transcription possible. On one hand, it offers automatic subtitle generation for videos, making content more accessible and easier to understand. On the other, Canva lets you upload audio files and export them along with your project, integrating different formats into one multimedia piece.
The advantage is that if you’re working on multimedia content, you can transcribe and edit in the same place without opening additional software.
What we like most: Combining transcription and editing in a single workflow. Best for: Content creators, multimedia journalists, and anyone who wants to transcribe without installing extra tools.
Transcribing doesn’t have to feel like punishment anymore. Tools like Pinpoint, Notebook LM, and Canva save time, reduce errors, and—most importantly—free up your mind for what matters: analyzing, connecting ideas, and telling better stories.
At Datasketch, we’re passionate about technology and how it can help us transform our daily tasks with data, as well as sharing knowledge about this fascinating universe. We invite you to follow our blog and try the tools we’ve created to make your everyday work with data easier.
