The automatic captions rely on speech recognition technology, which can be less than reliable. Do you want to have some fun while examining evidence of the folly of relying on automated captions? Compare these lyrics to the song "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction to the a video created to demonstrate the issues with automated captions. Click here to view the video, and see our suggested solutions below. I think you will agree that a student would be quite confused by the automated captions in this video, which are -sadly - fairly typical examples of automated captions.
"What Makes You Beautiful"
[Verse 1]
You're insecure,
Don't know what for,
You're turning heads when you walk through the door,
[Bridge]
Don't need make-up,
To cover up,
Being the way that you are is enough,
Everyone else in the room can see it,
Everyone else but you,
[Chorus]
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh, oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
If only you saw what I can see,
You'd understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh, oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh, oh,
That's what makes you beautiful
[Verse 2]
So c-come on.
You got it wrong.
To prove I'm right
I put it in a song.
I don't know why
You're being shy,
And turn away when I look into your eye-eye-eyes,
[Bridge]
Everyone else in the room can see it,
Everyone else but you,
[Chorus]
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately,
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
That's what makes you beautiful
Na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na [x2]
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
[Chorus]
Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful (Oh),
If only you saw what I can see,
You'll understand why I want you so desperately
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe,
You don't know,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,
Oh oh,
That's what makes you beautiful
So what is a great instructor to do? Always proofread the captions provided in a video to ascertain that they are accurate. Not all captions in YouTube are created with automatic captioning, so you might be fortunate enough to stumble upon a video with clear, accurate captions. If not, call us in IT at extension 229 for help. Planning ahead is desirable - it takes many weeks just to ask and receive permission to caption and stream a video. Now would be a great time to review your videos and determine which, if any, present a problem.
