Whisper runs locally for Japanese meeting minutes, but speakers need human check

The walkthrough is built around a practical division of labor rather than full automation. Whisper produces a timestamped transcript, and the author's sample minutes template — with sections for decisions, discussion summary and action items listing owner and deadline — shows where the human step begins. The author stresses that company terms, abbreviations and katakana words are especially error-prone and should be checked against meeting materials and the attendee list.

On accuracy, the author's own testing found that recording conditions mattered more than file conversion. Converting audio to mono 16kHz with FFmpeg did not reliably improve results, while placing the microphone closer to speakers and reducing simultaneous talking helped more. An initial prompt describing the meeting's context can stabilize spelling of technical terms, though it does not guarantee any specific word is recognized.

The local setup also carries a data-handling angle. Running Whisper on your own PC is presented as a valid option for sensitive recordings, with the caveat that where files and transcripts are stored, backed up and who can access them must be checked separately, and deleting recordings afterward should follow company or team rules.