“Natural language processing is both a gating factor and an enabler, a pivotal capability in so much of work,” said Michael Chui, a partner in the McKinsey research institute.

Word percent accuracy or understanding is not a bar to effectiveness for many tasks. Transcription is a good example. Once the A.I. engines began delivering accuracy of 90 percent or more, it became a market-ready technology. Today, the word accuracy can exceed 95 percent, in good recordings of a single speaker talking clearly. The results typically require corrections, breaking into paragraphs and there are gaps. But the leading automated systems are fast, inexpensive and getting better.

In Nebraska, the state legislature began last year using the automated service from Trint, a London-based start-up, to help in transcribing its legislative sessions and hearings. The Nebraska legislators meet for a 90-day floor session in odd-numbered years and a 60-day floor session in even-numbered years.

The transcription accuracy of the morning prayer — one person speaking into a microphone — is nearly 100 percent, said Daren Gillespie, a network administrator at the legislature who oversees the adoption of the technology. During hearings, with several different speakers and cross talk, the accuracy “nose-dives,” he said.

The transcription work force has been organized into two groups. The first breaks the A.I.-generated text into logical paragraphs and identifies the speakers. The second group corrects mistakes. Their work, he said, has fundamentally changed, from being transcribers to being editors.

There are also fewer of them — eight full-time and part-time workers, down from 13 a year ago. “I don’t have a goal to get rid of people’s jobs,” Mr. Gillespie said. “But I’m not going to hold onto government jobs if things can be done efficiently with technology.”

Ms. Leonard in Montana has managed to offer a service the A.I. software cannot match. She knows her clients and often talks to them about what they have recorded and what sections are most important.