system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do we still have court stenographers? Why don't they just record all the audio in the room?
gpt
The purpose of the transcripts is that the lawyers and judges can review what was said at a later date, and then reference it in motions and briefs.

You might have a court hearing, then later file a motion saying something like, "As Officer Johnson said, 'The accused was nowhere near the scene of the crime at the time the offense was committed.'" Then you would cite to the page of the physical transcript where that was said. Since you cited to it, the judge and the opposing counsel can open their copy of the transcript to the correct page.

It also comes in handy in the case of appeals. When a case is appealed, the court of appeals gets a copy of everything that was said in court. It makes it easier for them to review everything.

Some courts do record sessions rather than have a stenographer, but it is not as smooth a process for referring to what was said. Think about if you were telling a friend about a song, and a particular set of lyrics. You could give them an mp3 file of the song, and say, "Check the lyrics from 1:24 to 1:58, they are really good!" Or, you could just send them the lyrics that have been written down.