Summarizing Audio with ChatGPT From audio to transcript to summary in just a few minutes

I’ve been enjoying exploring what this new wave of AI technology can do. Recently, for example, I wanted to record an audio passage from the web, transcribe it, and summarize it using ChatGPT.

I asked ChatGPT how to get started, and it suggested using Audacity, a free and easy-to-use audio recording tool, to capture the audio. This approach worked without a hitch, and within minutes, I had an MP3 file.

Next, I asked ChatGPT to transcribe the file. While it couldn’t do that directly, it offered to generate code that uses the ChatGPT API for transcription. Since I already had an API account, I asked for the code as a WordPress shortcode. It generated it instantly. All I had to do was add my API key, upload the file, and run the shortcode on a page. Seconds later, I had a clean transcript of the audio.

From there, I simply pasted the text into ChatGPT for summarizing. And if I were feeling a bit more ambitious, I could probably automate that final step as well.

The entire process took less than 30 minutes, and I didn’t require any specialized technical skills. It’s remarkable how accessible and capable these tools have become. A year or two ago, I wouldn’t have even attempted this as it would have seemed too complex and time-consuming.