5 recommended AI OCR tools! We also introduce the points of how to choose!

Table of contents

What is AI OCR?
- What is OCR
Three strengths of AI OCR
- 1. High character recognition rate
- 2. Supports reading of atypical documents
- 3. High reading accuracy
3 benefits of introducing AI OCR
- 1. Progress in automation of data entry work
- 2. Fewer human errors
- 3. Preservation of past materials progresses
5 points to choose AI OCR
- ①Is it suitable for the purpose of use?
- ② Is the UI superior?
- ③Whether it supports a wide range of languages
- ④Are there many corresponding documents?
- ⑤Is it possible to cooperate with RPA?
5 recommended AI OCR
- CLOVA OCR | LINE Corporation
- DX suite｜AI inside Inc.
- tegaki｜Cogent Labs Inc.
- AnyForm OCR | Hammock Co., Ltd.
- AI reading | NTT East Japan
summary

What is AI OCR?

AI OCR is ” optical character recognition (OCR) that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve the accuracy of character reading”.

Paper media information such as invoices and purchase orders are converted into digital data such as images and PDFs by converting characters into text data using OCR.

By using AI in the process of extracting text data, it has become possible to read characters more accurately.

What is OCR

OCR is an abbreviation for “Optical Character Recognition”.

OCR can read characters from image data and convert the characters to text data.

Converting to text data not only makes searching and editing easier, but also leads to paperless operations.

Three strengths of AI OCR

AI OCR has three strengths:

Character recognition rate is high
Supports reading of atypical documents
high reading accuracy

Let’s take a closer look at each.

1. High character recognition rate

Conventional OCR cannot recognize characters in terms of fixed words or contexts.

For example, when reading “logic”, it is mistakenly recognized as the kanji character “口” instead of the katakana “ロ”.

In the case of AI OCR, there is a “jikku” in the back, and since the word logic is often used in the data learned so far, it must be “ro” in katakana.” sex can be found.

Therefore, AI OCR can read characters with much higher accuracy than before.

2. Supports reading of atypical documents

Conventional OCR has to specify where the string is when reading atypical formats.

For example, when reading characters written in different formats such as receipts, it is necessary to manually specify character strings in advance.

AI OCR, on the other hand, can automatically identify strings. With AI recognizing tables and items, it is now possible to recognize atypical formats.

3. High reading accuracy

One of the strengths of AI OCR is that deep learning improves reading accuracy with repeated use.

As the AI learns repeatedly used industry terms and unique writing styles, the accuracy of reading improves as it is used.

3 benefits of introducing AI OCR

By introducing AI OCR, the following three benefits are born.

Progress in automation of data entry work
reduce human error
Preservation of past materials progresses

Let’s take a closer look at each.

1. Progress in automation of data entry work

By introducing AI OCR, manual input work is no longer necessary.

In addition, compared to conventional OCR, AI OCR has higher reading accuracy, so you can reduce the confirmation work.

Simple tasks such as data entry are areas where AI excels. With the introduction of AI OCR, companies can reduce labor costs and allocate personnel to more creative work.

2. Fewer human errors

Human error can also occur when data entry is done manually.

In business dealing with important documents, even minor mistakes such as typos, omissions, and incorrect numbers can lead to big problems.

Although 100% accuracy is not guaranteed, introducing AI OCR will lead to fewer mistakes compared to manual work.

3. Preservation of past materials progresses

By introducing AI OCR, the preservation of past materials will progress.

Historical materials are often stored in paper form. By using AI OCR to convert documents into digital data and save it, it will be used in many cases.

Even if you don’t need it now, you can think of various tasks in the future, such as collecting statistics that include past data and investigating past cases. It is recommended to digitize important data using AI OCR before the paper deteriorates.

5 points to choose AI OCR

There are five points to consider when choosing an AI OCR tool:

Is it suitable for the purpose of use?
Is the UI good?
Do you support a wide range of languages?
Are there many corresponding documents?
Is it possible to cooperate with RPA?

Let’s take a closer look at each point.

①Is it suitable for the purpose of use?

First and foremost, is it suitable for the intended use?

Each AI OCR service has its own characteristics, such as being good at reading printed characters and good at reading handwritten characters.

If the purpose is to process printed characters such as books and slips, it is recommended to choose an AI OCR that is strong in reading type.

Also, if the purpose is to process handwritten characters such as questionnaires and questionnaires, try introducing AI OCR that is strong at reading handwritten characters.

② Is the UI superior?

Next is “Is the UI superior?”

A good UI is a prerequisite for checking digitized characters and managing the progress of data entry.

Unless you actually use the UI, it’s hard to know if it’s good or bad for you. Use a trial to check how comfortable it is to use.

③Whether it supports a wide range of languages

In addition, for companies that have bases overseas and companies that communicate with overseas companies, it is an important point of view that “whether they support a wide range of languages”.

When choosing AI OCR, check the supported languages and whether you need to pay a separate fee.

④Are there many corresponding documents?

In addition to the supported languages, “whether there are many supported documents” is also an important point of view.

The file formats supported by each service are different. If you are considering introducing it, be sure to check the supported formats for reading and outputting documents.

⑤Is it possible to cooperate with RPA?

Finally, there is the question of whether it is possible to link with RPA.

RPA is an abbreviation for “Robotic Process Automation,” which refers to a system that automates tasks that were previously handled by humans.

What AI OCR can do is to read characters and convert them into text data. By combining it with the idea of ” RPA ” that automates each task, the efficiency of the task will be promoted.

After converting characters into data using AI OCR, it can be widely used, such as storing it in an in-house system, creating forms, and creating materials.

In addition to RPA, checking whether it can be linked with external systems such as accounting systems and purchase management systems will also lead to internal reforms.

When considering introduction, make sure to check whether AI OCR can be linked with external systems including RPA.