PAUL Gascoigne’s ghost-writer had to transcribe their chats by hand — because AI could not understand his Geordie accent.
Victoria Williams got tech tools to analyse recordings of conversations with 58-year-old Gazza to help her write his autobiography Eight.
But none could accurately translate the former England and Spurs star’s comments.
The AI tools insisted he said “hide” rather than “hate”, “speed much” instead of “peanuts” and “lies” not “lawyers”.
It also got it wrong when he said “F***er” — and suggested he had said “girl up”.
Writer Victoria said: “I wasn’t hugely surprised that the AI tools failed. They’re never perfect, and Paul hasn’t lost his trademark Geordie accent. It’s as strong as ever, despite the fact he hasn’t lived in the North East since 2014.”
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So Victoria had to replay the recordings and transcribe them all herself.
Eight was released on October 23 and is currently the No1 bestseller in football books on Amazon.
The book’s title refers to Gazza’s iconic No8 shirt — and also his relationship with the eight primary emotions.
It explores his childhood, marriage and career, as well his battles with addictions.
Victoria, of Cullercoats, North Tyneside, said: “At first, I felt overwhelmed by the task of having to listen back to hours and hours of interviews. But once I started, it really helped to get a feel for his voice, in a way I wouldn’t otherwise have done.
“Listening to Paul talk about his life for a second time, and hearing the raw emotion in his words, it improved the book.
“Paul was uninhibited, he didn’t sugar-coat anything, he just told me it was really important for him to be truthful about his life.
“To be fair, the AI tools did a decent job of picking up the bulk of what Paul told me, the transcript just wasn’t accurate enough to work from. I’m not a Geordie myself, but have lived in the North East for many years, so luckily I didn’t struggle with his accent.”
Eight is available at all major supermarkets as well as Waterstones and TGJones — formerly WHSmith.
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