Automatic subtitling? Not quite

I recently came across a feature in Youtube that's not quite hidden but not very well advertised either.

It's on every video: look at the grey bar that allows you to choose the resolution and switch to full-screen mode. To the left of those buttons is a smaller one marked CC, which stands for 'closed-captioning', or subtitles as they're known in the UK.

It's been around for a year or so, but unfortunately it wasn't enormously impressive and hasn't improved a huge amount since then. It uses speech recognition to automatically detect what's being said - in theory.

Speech recognition can work quite well - recent products from market-leader Nuance, for instance, have been very impressive. Generally, though, the program needs to be trained for a specific voice before it works properly.

The CC button doesn't appear on embedded videos so you won't see it on the one below (though it's a great excuse for posting a Bugs Bunny classic), but if you click the Youtube button to view it there, it'll appear.

Click the CC button, then choose Transcribe Audio (BETA). Click OK when prompted, to see the automated subtitles in all their glory.

It works a lot better if the speakers enunciate very clearly, but for most videos (the CC button doesn't show up on all clips) it's completely useless - except for its humour value.

The whole thing is strangely reminiscent of Adam Buxton's highly entertaining 'Songs of Praise (with subtitles)':