Whisper is also embedded in Microsoft’s and Oracle’s cloud computing platforms and integrated with certain versions of ChatGPT. Despite its wide adoption, researchers are now raising serious concerns about its accuracy.
In a study conducted by researchers from Cornell University, the University of Washington, and others, researchers discovered that Whisper “hallucinated” in about 1.4% of its transcriptions, sometimes inventing entire sentences, nonsensical phrases, or even dangerous content, including violent and racially charged remarks.
The study, Careless Whisper: Speech-to-Text Hallucination Harms, found that Whisper often inserted phrases during moments of silence in medical conversations, particularly when transcribing patients with aphasia, a condition that affects language and speech patterns.
