Feedback: guides-detecting-low-confidence-words

Documentation Feedback

Original URL: https://www.assemblyai.com/docs/guides/detecting-low-confidence-words
Category: guides
Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:41:49 pm

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Claude Sonnet 4 Feedback

Generated: 05/08/2025, 4:41:48 pm

Technical Documentation Analysis: Detecting Low Confidence Words

Overall Assessment

This documentation provides a functional code example but has several areas for improvement in clarity, structure, and user experience. Here’s my detailed feedback:

🔴 Critical Issues

1. Misleading Code Example

// INCORRECT - This won't work as shown
const transcript = await client.transcripts.transcribe({
  audio_url: "./sample.mp4",
});

Problem: Local file paths cannot be used directly with audio_url. This will cause immediate failure.

Fix: Clarify the difference between local files and URLs:

// For URLs (remote files)
const transcript = await client.transcripts.transcribe({
  audio_url: "https://example.com/audio.mp3",
});

// For local files
const transcript = await client.transcripts.transcribe({
  audio: "./sample.mp4", // Note: different parameter name
});

2. Missing Error Handling

The code lacks any error handling, which will frustrate users when things go wrong.

Add:

try {
  const transcript = await client.transcripts.transcribe({
    audio_url: "your-audio-url-here",
  });

  if (transcript.status === 'error') {
    throw new Error(`Transcription failed: ${transcript.error}`);
  }
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Error:', error.message);
}

🟡 Structure & Organization Issues

3. Poor Information Architecture

Current flow: Getting Started → Step-by-Step Instructions (but they’re not clearly numbered)

Improved structure:

# Detect Low Confidence Words in Transcripts

## Overview
- What are confidence scores?
- When to use this feature
- What you'll learn

## Prerequisites
- AssemblyAI account setup
- SDK installation
- Basic Node.js knowledge

## Implementation Guide
### Step 1: Initialize the Client
### Step 2: Transcribe Audio
### Step 3: Retrieve Sentences
### Step 4: Filter Low Confidence Words
### Step 5: Format Results

## Complete Example
## Troubleshooting
## Next Steps

4. Inconsistent Code Presentation

The code is presented as disconnected snippets. Users need to see both individual steps AND a complete working example.

🟠 Missing Information

5. No Prerequisites Section

Add:

• Node.js version requirements
• Required AssemblyAI plan features
• Estimated API costs/usage
• Time expectations for transcription

6. Missing Configuration Options

Add explanation of:

• Why 0.4 threshold was chosen
• How to determine optimal thresholds for different use cases
• Performance implications of different thresholds

7. No Troubleshooting Section

Common issues to address:

• Audio file format requirements
• File size limitations
• Network timeout issues
• Invalid confidence threshold values

🔵 Clarity & User Experience Issues

8. Unclear Explanations

Current: “From there use the id from the transcript to request the transcript broken down into sentences.”

Better: “Once transcription is complete, we’ll use the transcript ID to fetch the same content organized by sentences, which makes it easier to identify problematic segments.”

9. Poor Variable Naming

// Unclear
const filterScores = filteredSentences.map(...)

// Better
const sentencesWithOnlyLowConfidenceWords = filteredSentences.map(...)

10. Missing Context for Output

The example output appears without context. Add:

• Explanation of what each field means
• How to interpret the scores
• What actions to take based on results

📋 Specific Recommendations

Immediate Fixes:

1. Correct the audio file example - Show both local and remote file usage
2. Add error handling throughout the code
3. Number the steps clearly (Step 1, Step 2, etc.)
4. Add a complete working example at the end

Content Additions:

1. Add a “What You’ll Build” section showing the expected output upfront
2. Include a troubleshooting section with common errors
3. Add validation examples for confidence thresholds
4. Explain the business value - why detect low confidence words?

Structural Improvements:

1. Add navigation/table of contents for longer sections
2. Include estimated time to complete (e.g., “⏱️ 10 minutes”)
3. Add difficulty level (e.g., ”🟢 Beginner”)
4. Cross-reference related guides

Code Quality:

1. Consistent formatting and indentation
2. Meaningful variable names throughout
3. Comments explaining business logic, not just syntax
4. Type hints or JSDoc comments where helpful

🎯 Priority Actions

1. High Priority: Fix the audio file path issue
2. High Priority: Add error handling
3. Medium Priority: Restructure with clear steps
4. Medium Priority: Add complete working example
5. Low Priority: Enhance formatting and cross-references

This documentation has good technical content but needs significant improvements in presentation, error handling, and user guidance to provide a smooth developer experience.

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