Shorthand is good for you

“What’s the point of learning shorthand when AI can take notes for you?” people ask when I tell them that I’m learning shorthand again, some 26 years after I started Pitman 2000 as a Reuters graduate trainee.

It’s a valid question. Gone are the days when you had to furiously scribble on a notepad while doorstepping a central bank official or other newsmaker, hoping you would be able to read your notes back.

Today, AI software can transcribe recorded speeches and meetings, summarise and even suggest key action points, often more accurately and certainly faster than humans. That is arguably a beneficial technological development that is sure to boost productivity and calm the nerves of hacks.

But taking notes by hand is about much more than productivity. No doubt there’s a sense of nostalgia. I’ve been fascinated by shorthand ever since I first encountered it in the Reuters classroom at Gray’s Inn Road, and I still love putting pen to paper.

Research shows that handwriting is better for understanding and memory. In a study published in Psychological Science, researchers found that students who took notes on laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than those who wrote on paper.

An increasing number of universities are also doing away with laptops, returning to traditional pen and paper and in-person exams to combat AI assisted plagiarism and cheating.

While it’s impossible to record everything quickly in longhand, shorthand allows you to take down most of what matters. Professional shorthand writers typically reach speeds of up to 160 words per minute (wpm), enough to cover a normal conversation or formal speech. I still remember my former colleague Carolyn Cohn effortlessly taking down the words of fast-talking FX traders in Teeline.

Shorthand remains an essential skill for journalists in the UK, with a speed of 100 wpm typically required by the National Council for the Training of Journalists. My tutor, whom I meet face to face every two weeks or so, teaches Teeline to aspiring journalists at City University and the Press Association.

While I’m certainly not aiming for top speed, I have been making steady progress. I also enjoy the stimulus my brain gets. After all, what you don’t use, you lose. In an age when so much of our doing and thinking is outsourced to technology, there is something deeply satisfying about reaching for a pen and writing by hand. It has also given me a renewed appreciation for a skill that many Reuters correspondents once relied upon.

Natsuko joined Reuters as a graduate trainee in Tokyo in 2000 and covered financial markets, central banking and investment strategy in London and Singapore. Since leaving Reuters in 2014, she has worked as an investment writer at Pictet Asset Management.

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