NCRAGR Alert: NCRA monitoring implementation of artificial intelligence in Ohio county courts

The National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), the country’s leading organization representing stenographic court reporters, captioners, and legal videographers, is closely monitoring an ongoing situation in Ohio where artificial intelligence (AI) is being implemented in a county courtroom. This comes after Summit County Domestic Relations Court has received a $9,500 grant from the Ohio Supreme Court to purchase AI transcribing equipment according to a July 10 article from WOSU Public Media based in Columbus, Ohio.

“The consequences of relying on artificial intelligence to capture the spoken word are unprecedented and frankly, unreliable, which is exactly why NCRA is closely monitoring this situation in Ohio in coordination with our Government Relations Department to craft a strong and aggressive grassroots campaign to prevent further proliferation of AI in Ohio courtrooms,” said NCRA Executive Director Dave Wenhold, CAE, PLC,

NCRA previously published a white paper dedicated to raising awareness on the potential impact of AI in court rooms late last year. It has since been cited by CNBC, Reuters, and others.

“The opportunity for misuse of AI in the creation of courtroom transcripts vis-à-vis deepfakes or other forms of manipulation are simply too high to be implemented in Ohio courtrooms, nonetheless at any level in our nation’s judiciary,” said NCRA President Kristin M. Anderson, MA, RPR, CRI, FCRR. “Care, custody, and control are lost when AI is implemented in a courtroom. That is simply unacceptable as well as unprecedented in terms of ensuring equal justice for all under the law,” she added.

The court reporter is the official officer creating the verbatim record of a proceeding. NCRA members are certified professionals who are dedicated guardians of the record, adhering to strict ethical guidelines and industry standards.

A recent, prominent example of the failures of digital transcription can be cited in the third week of the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial, where both the prosecution and defense teams lambasted court transcripts generated digitally while noting the reliable services of professional court reporters typically retained in the South Carolina court. View the working list of recent digital failures in other national, well-known cases compiled by the NCRA here.

“NCRA will remain vigilant in monitoring the ongoing situation in Ohio, as well as the entire country on behalf of our members in the court reporting, professional captioning, and legal videography community,” said NCRA President-Elect Keith R. Lemons, FAPR, RPR, CRR (Ret.) “The same week the news broke in Ohio, the NCRA Board of Directors announced their support for my proposed rapid response team called the Government Relations Team (GRT),” he added.

The new GRT team will assist NCRA’s Government Relations staff in reviewing state and federal legislative and regulatory actions and suggest grassroots efforts to help our members out in the states. “Ohio very well might meet the tip of this spear if AI is further implemented in their state,” added Lemons.

NCRA is celebrating its quasquicentennial and will be hosting their annual Conference & Expo at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville, Ky., August 1-3, 2024. With more than 12,000 active members, NCRA has been delivering effective advocacy at all levels of government through grassroot mobilization campaigns, federal lobbying, as well as legislative and regulative monitoring.