Extracting information from PDFs and other types of digital documents using optical character recognition (OCR) has been standard in business for some time. Generally, the results are good, but getting to good can take some trial and error (figuring out settings, getting consistent results, training new users, avoiding formatting issues, and so on). It can be frustrating to say the least. But there is good news for business owners. This kind of operational inefficiency could soon become a thing of the past.

Snowflake® has recently introduced a preview of its new cutting-edge document processing tool, Document AI, that leverages the Snowflake Arctic-TILT (Text Image Layout Transformer), a proprietary large language model (LLM). Document AI aims to empower businesses by enabling them to process documents efficiently using either a zero-shot (no training required) or fine-tuning methodology. This flexibility ensures that businesses can quickly and accurately extract information from a wide range of documents, regardless of their familiarity with the document type.

Traditional OCR Technology

Most people have used traditional OCR technology, even if they don’t know the technical term for it. OCR technology converts various types of documents—such as scanned paper documents, PDFs, or images captured by digital cameras—into editable and searchable data. The fundamental principle behind OCR is its ability to analyze the light and dark areas of an image to recognize characters and words. 

This technology has become indispensable for tasks such as:

• Digitizing printed text
• Automating data entry processes
• Making text searchable

OCR’s widespread use is attributed to its efficiency in transforming physical documents into digital formats, thus streamlining numerous business operations. It’s essential for preserving historical information, record keeping, and easily sharing  large amounts of information

There’s no doubt that OCR has been a transformative technology for nearly every industry that needs documents. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. 

The Advantages of Document AI Over OCR

Document AI enhances the capabilities of traditional OCR by expanding its functionality to handle more diverse documents and incorporates the power of LLMs. While OCR is proficient at recognizing and digitizing printed text, it often struggles with complex documents that contain a mix of text, tables, images, and other graphical elements. 

Document AI, on the other hand, excels in these scenarios by leveraging its advanced AI capabilities to accurately extract and process information from these complex documents. Additionally, the ability to use Document AI in a zero-shot manner means that businesses can deploy it immediately without the need for extensive training. That alone can lead to a significant boost in an organization’s efficiency. 

For those who require more precise and tailored results, Document AI also offers fine-tuning options, allowing businesses to train the model on specific document sets to enhance accuracy and relevance.

Snowflake allows users to upload their own documents – like ones that will be scanned in – and create a versioned, fine-tuned model that is specifically designed for the documents it was trained on. Snowflake has made the fine-tuning process easy and quick to set up. 

• Users upload at least twenty documents 
• Define fields to extract 
• Validate the extracted fields 
• Publish the model for use 

This allows for higher accuracy and more consistent results when processing documents that are similar. Once a model is published, it can be used from the UI, or as part of a SQL statement. Each document that is processed is stored in an internal or external snowflake stage, allowing large quantities of documents to be processed in an automated fashion.

A Flexible & Efficient Future

While traditional OCR remains a valuable tool for basic text recognition tasks, Snowflake’s Document AI provides a more robust and flexible solution for handling a wider range of document types and extraction needs. 

By integrating advanced AI technology, Document AI offers superior accuracy, versatility, and ease of use, making it a powerful asset for businesses looking to optimize their document processing workflows.

Find out how your business can benefit from Document AI. Talk with 7Rivers.