How to Install & Use Whisper AI Voice to Text

Introduction

This tutorial will guide you through the process of installing and using OpenAI's Whisper AI for voice-to-text transcription. Whisper AI is a powerful speech recognition system capable of transcribing and translating audio files in approximately 100 languages. By following these steps, you'll be able to transcribe audio files easily and efficiently.

Step 1: Install Python

1. Visit the Python official website.
2. Download the latest version of Python for your operating system.
3. Run the installer and ensure you check the box that says "Add Python to PATH".
4. Follow the installation prompts to complete the installation.

Step 2: Install PyTorch

1. Go to the PyTorch installation page.
2. Select your preferences based on your operating system, package manager, and whether you want to use CUDA (for GPU support).
3. Copy the provided installation command.
4. Open Command Prompt and paste the command to install PyTorch.

Step 3: Install Chocolatey Package Manager

1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Paste the following command to install Chocolatey:

   @"%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))" && SET "PATH=%PATH%;%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\chocolatey\bin"
   

3. Follow any prompts to complete the installation.

Step 4: Install FFmpeg

1. In Command Prompt, enter the following command to install FFmpeg using Chocolatey:

   choco install ffmpeg
   

2. Wait for the installation to finish.

Step 5: Install Whisper AI

1. Open Command Prompt.
2. Run the following command to install Whisper AI:

   pip install openai-whisper
   

3. Wait for the installation to complete.

Step 6: Transcribe a Single Audio File

1. Open Command Prompt where your audio file is located.
2. Use the following command to transcribe the audio file:

   whisper your_audio_file.mp3 --model base
   

   Replace your_audio_file.mp3 with the name of your audio file.
3. Check the output in the same directory.

Step 7: Output Files

• After transcription, Whisper AI will create a text file with the same name as your audio file in the same directory.

Step 8: Transcribe Multiple Files

1. To transcribe all audio files in a folder, use the command:

   whisper folder_path --model base
   

   Replace folder_path with the path to your folder containing audio files.

Step 9: Available Models

• Whisper AI offers different models such as tiny, base, small, medium, and large. Choose based on your needs:
  • Smaller models are faster but less accurate.
  • Larger models are slower but provide better accuracy.

Step 10: Transcribe in Other Languages

• Whisper AI can transcribe audio in various languages automatically. Simply provide your audio file, and it will detect the language.

Step 11: Translate to English

1. To translate non-English audio to English, use the command:

   whisper your_audio_file.mp3 --model base --task translate
   

Step 12: Help and Quality

• For help, you can refer to the Whisper AI documentation or use the command:

  whisper --help
  

• Quality may vary based on the model and audio clarity, so choose accordingly.

Step 13: Uninstalling Whisper AI and Dependencies

1. To uninstall Whisper AI, enter:

   pip uninstall openai-whisper
   

2. Uninstall FFmpeg with:

   choco uninstall ffmpeg
   

3. To uninstall Chocolatey, delete the folder C:\ProgramData\chocolatey.
4. To uninstall PyTorch, run:

   pip uninstall torch torchvision torchaudio
   

5. Uninstall Python via Installed Apps in Windows Settings.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can successfully install and use Whisper AI for voice-to-text transcription. Whether you're transcribing single files or processing multiple audio files, Whisper AI offers a robust solution for speech recognition. For further exploration, consider using Whisper AI in cloud environments like Google Colab for enhanced capabilities.