model · OpenAI (weights); whisper.cpp/faster-whisper (community runtimes)
Whisper (open source)
Whisper is OpenAI's speech-to-text model, and unlike ChatGPT the weights themselves were released openly (MIT license), so anyone can run the exact same model on their own computer for free, forever, with no internet connection and no data ever leaving the machine. Two community projects make this practical: whisper.cpp runs efficiently on ordinary CPUs and Apple Silicon (Metal), while faster-whisper uses a GPU to run about 4x faster than the original implementation. Both are the same underlying model as OpenAI's paid transcription API — you're not sacrificing much accuracy for the privilege of running it locally. This is the best open-source option for turning a recorded lecture, interview, or field recording into text, and a natural fit for a course that wants students comfortable with tools that cost nothing and don't require sending data to a company.
What it can help with
- speech to text
- offline transcription
- cpu inference
- gpu acceleration
- lecture transcription
- open source model