I said I’d be back if I experimented more with handwriting transcription, so here I am.
I ran a little experiment to compare how the ReMarkable e-paper tablet (which I use for writing and sketching) and GPT-4 convert handwriting to text.
ReMarkable
I’ve been using the handwriting to text conversion on this device for years, and it gets better with every update. It can transcribe pages and pages. The process takes a while, but it’s worth it. (If you know of a streamlined way of doing this, please let me know.)
- If I have to transcribe more than one page, I go to the Page selector, select all the pages and press Convert.
- If I have only one page, I click on the “export” icon and convert.
- I then email the text to myself, by selecting the “Text in email” option.
ChatGPT
After I exported the handwritten text as a PDF, I tried to convert it to text using GPT-4.
First I tried to upload the PDF through the ChatGPT app on the iPad, and it gave me an upload error.
I then tried on the desktop browser. It didn’t give me an upload error, but it did say “Can’t extract text”. So I asked the bot what I needed to do.
Me:
Can you transcribe handwriting?
ChatGPT:
Yes, I can transcribe handwritten text from images. If you have an image containing handwriting that you'd like to have transcribed, you can upload it here, and I'll transcribe it for you.
So that’s what I did.
I converted the PDF into a JPEG and uploaded it.
Results
Here’s the text from my ReMarkable.
(I’ll share it here before I become paranoid about sharing my handwriting on the internet…) The text is a section of my novel, ignore the content!
Here’s what the ReMarkable conversion gave me.
Abuela, I've made up my mind. If the police are going after the Soho gang, let them. They have the resources and they have the contacts. I'm sure they have a switch, or an undercover detective who can give them some intel.
Meanwhile, I'll follow my own line of investigation. What if this was more personal? Or what if, there was a gang involved but they weren't responsible for the murder. Ricky was unpopular because he was rude and a pain to work with, but he was a good engineer, that's why they kept him. Why would he risk all that to help a criminal gang? If there was a gang involved, they must have had someone on the inside. So even if the police's hypothesis is right, I can help by looking at
And here’s what GPT-4 gave me:
Here is the transcription of the handwritten text from the image:
Abuela, I've made up my mind.
If the police are going after the
Soho gang, let them. They have the
resources and they have the contacts.
I'm sure they have a snitch, or an
undercover detective who can give
them some intel.
Meanwhile, I'll follow my own line
of investigation. What if this was
more personal? Or what if, there was
a guy involved but they weren't
responsible for the murder. Ricky
was unpopular because he was rude
and a pain to work with, but he
was a good engineer, that's why they
kept him. Why would he risk all
that to help a criminal gang? If
there was a gang involved, they must
have had someone on the inside. So
there lies the answer. My mind is
set. If the police's hypothesis is
right, I can help by looking at
(Transcription ends as the text is cut off)
Both are pretty accurate, and pretty similar in errors.
I’ll leave you to spot the differences!
Wow. Didnt realize that Chatty could do this. So many functions now! Great post, thanks.