When AI makes a useful first draft
AI captions can give you a starting transcript when your clip has clear speech. They are useful when you want to spend your editing time reviewing and refining instead of typing every sentence.
That first draft still needs you. Background noise, music, accents, overlapping voices and unfamiliar names can all make transcription harder. Listen to the entire clip rather than assuming a fluent-looking transcript is correct.
When writing it yourself makes sense
Manual captions can be a good fit for a very short clip, a stylised voiceover or a recording with a lot of unusual terminology. They also let you work directly from a prepared script.
If you paste a script, compare it with the actual performance. Speakers often change a word, add a pause or skip a sentence. The caption should follow what the viewer hears, unless you are deliberately creating a different kind of on-screen text.
Separate transcription from creative overlays
Captions represent the spoken content. A headline, call to action or playful aside serves a different purpose. Mixing the two without a clear visual distinction can make it hard for viewers to know what was actually said.
Decide whether your clip needs faithful captions, additional creative text, or both. For caption work, begin with accuracy and timing. Style can reinforce your delivery once the words are right.
Build a repeatable review pass
First check the transcript against the audio. Next review names, numbers and mixed-language phrases. Then adjust caption timing and line breaks. Finally choose a readable style and inspect the exported video.
Check ShortMonk’s pricing page for what each plan includes, then try both workflows on suitable clips and see which leaves you with the most useful starting point.