TranscribeAI: How Ambient AI Differs from Dictation
You probably tried dictation once or twice during an appointment. Maybe you invested in the microphone. Perhaps it came bundled with your system. You opened the SOAP, clicked into a field, and started talking.
Somewhere between “normal auscultation period new line” and correcting the same misheard drug name for the third time, you realized something: This wasn’t actually reducing documentation burden, and it felt a lot like just typing out loud.
If that was your experience, you may be put off by the concept of transcription tools altogether. Many veterinarians tried dictation, felt underwhelmed or actively frustrated, and quietly went back to typing their notes the familiar way.
The frustration with dictation boils down to workflow design. There’s a distinction between dictation and AI tools built on different models, and that structural difference matters. Let’s dig into the beauty of ambient AI and how it can change the conversation in your practice.
What traditional dictation actually does
First, traditional dictation is fundamentally a speech-to-text engine. It converts spoken words into written text and inserts them wherever your cursor happens to be.
It does not:
- understand SOAP structure
- distinguish subjective from objective findings
- organize your assessment or plan
It simply transcribes.
That means you are still composing the note in real time. You are deciding what belongs in each section, narrating punctuation, structuring sentences carefully so they make sense in written form and cleaning up inevitable transcription errors.
During a live appointment, that creates an attention split, where part of your brain is examining the patient, part is engaging with the client, and another part is managing phrasing so the transcription behaves correctly.
Dictation can speed up typing, but it doesn’t reduce the cognitive load of documentation. In some cases, it increases it. That’s why so many veterinarians have tried it and decided it wasn’t worth the tradeoff.
What ambient AI does differently
Ambient AI operates on a different model.
Instead of requiring you to deliberately narrate documentation, ambient systems are designed to passively capture the clinical conversation and then generate a structured draft note afterward. Rather than inserting raw text into a blank field, the system identifies medically relevant content, interprets context, and organizes the information into a SOAP format for your review.
In practical terms, you conduct the appointment normally. You speak naturally with the client. You explain your findings and discuss differentials and recommendations. Afterward, a structured draft appears, already organized into subjective, objective, assessment, and plan.
You move from composing in real time to reviewing and verifying.
In broader healthcare settings, ambient AI has been studied for its potential to reduce documentation burden by capturing and structuring visit conversations without requiring active dictation during the encounter.
Early data from human medical environments suggests that when well-integrated, ambient tools may reduce after-hours documentation time and perceived cognitive load for clinicians. However, outcomes vary depending on how tightly the technology is embedded into the workflow, which underscores an important point: The tool itself is only as effective as its integration.
Why many veterinarians bounced off dictation
Traditional dictation requires performance. You’re essentially narrating your medical record out loud in front of a client, often while simultaneously examining a patient. That can feel unnatural, distracting, and cognitively heavy. It may also shift the tone of the exam room in a way that doesn’t feel aligned with how you prefer to practice.
Ambient AI removes that performance layer. You are not speaking to the software; you are speaking to the client. The software operates in the background and produces a draft after the interaction.
Mechanically, dictation demands continuous active input and error correction. Ambient AI shifts the workload to structured review and refinement. For many clinicians, that transition from creating to editing feels significantly lighter.
Integration is the real difference
It’s important to acknowledge that not all ambient systems perform equally. If the output requires heavy cleanup, generates long, unstructured narratives that must be manually reorganized, or lives in a separate application that requires copying and pasting into your PIMS, the friction quickly returns.
This is where workflow integration becomes critical.
When ambient AI is embedded directly into the medical record workflow, it does more than generate text. It connects documentation to the rest of the visit. Completing the SOAP can automatically update the invoice, generate discharge instructions, and trigger reminders tied to products or treatments. Documentation is no longer isolated; it is functionally linked to operational steps.
That connection is what turns transcription into workflow support.
Where TranscribeAI fits in to the flow
TranscribeAI is Shepherd’s ambient AI scribing tool, built directly into the SOAP medical record workflow. It doesn’t require a separate login, an external platform, or manual copy-and-paste. The draft note appears inside the record itself, already structured, ready for doctor review.
Because it lives inside Shepherd’s workflow-first design, completing the SOAP keeps the visit aligned. The invoice reflects documented care. Discharge instructions pull from the plan. Reminders can be tied automatically to treatments. The record, billing, and follow-up steps stay in sync.
Just as importantly, TranscribeAI is doctor-controlled. You review every draft. You edit as needed. You approve before anything becomes part of the permanent medical record. It supports your clinical thinking; it does not replace it.
This distinction matters. Ambient AI should reduce friction without removing authority.
What the research suggests (and what it doesn’t)
Emerging research in human healthcare settings has shown promising trends around ambient AI’s potential to reduce documentation time and after-hours charting, as well as improve note completeness. A recent study found measurable reductions in documentation burden among clinicians using ambient AI tools, although the degree of benefit varied depending on workflow design and user adoption. According to the finding, burnout in clinical settings (partly attributed to time spent on documentation) was reduced from 51.9% to 38.8% after using AI in a 30-day period.
The takeaway is not that ambient AI “solves” administrative burden and the negative impact associated with it. Rather, when technology is thoughtfully integrated into how clinicians already work, it can reduce friction.
When it is layered awkwardly on top of existing systems, it can create more cleanup than relief. This is why workflow determines outcome.
The big picture
Dictation was designed to make typing faster. That’s all well and good, and tools that accomplish this task have been helpful to many for years.
If you tried dictation and decided it wasn’t for you, that experience is valid.
Ambient AI, on the other hand, is designed to make documentation lighter. When ambient tools function well inside a workflow, they allow you to stay present in the exam room, listen more actively, and review rather than compose from scratch. They create the possibility of finishing records during the visit instead of reopening charts after dinner.
Ambient AI is in its own category of technology, built around a different mechanism and a distinct cognitive model. It uses context and interpretive technology to create complete, doctor-controlled notes in real time.
In the veterinary realm, TranscribeAI uses ambient AI to match your language, your logic, and your clinical standards. The real question isn’t whether it sounds impressive in theory. It’s whether, during your busiest hour, it helps you complete the visit cleanly and walk out with fewer charts waiting.
The goal isn’t to talk to your computer, it’s to talk to clients. With second-nature software built for the way you actually practice medicine, you can run your practice your way (instead of wrestling with your software) and wrap up each day with your records completed.
