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AI, the Transcription Economy, and the Future of Work
Gabriel is a professional transcriber, and for years he earned a middle-class living. He'd sit at his desk, "knock it out" for hours using custom keystrokes, and watch the money roll in. "I sent my son to private schools and university on transcribing," he tells me. "It was a nice life." But in the past decade, the bottom fell out. As audio recordings went digital and broadband spread, clients could ship work to India and the Philippines.