Do I need an AI meeting assistant?

by | Aug 28, 2024

It depends. If your video conferencing platform already offers transcription, action items, and summaries, adding an AI assistant may be too much—especially since it’s an extra subscription to pay. At this point, most of the main video conferencing apps have AI meeting assistant features baked in. If you’re already using one of these apps, check them out first:

  • Zoom offers its AI features on the lowest paid plan, unlocking transcription, smart chapters, and summaries, among other features. This is enough if, for example, you don’t need conversation analytics or deep meeting search.
  • Microsoft Teams requires a Copilot Pro Business add-on for AI transcription and meeting notes—on top of an active Microsoft 365 Business subscription. The key difference is how Copilot combines meeting context with your entire company data to answer questions and help your team stay aligned.
  • Google Meet only offers transcription on the Workspace Business and Enterprise plans, without extra bells and whistles on how to search that data. But with the Gemini AI add-on rolling out, this may change in the future.

So back to the question: do you need an AI meeting assistant from this list? The answer is yes if:

  • You have meetings across multiple platforms and want to record them all in a single place. These apps are useful for freelancers or solopreneurs who get invited into their clients’ video calls.
  • You need advanced features like conversation analytics, AI generation based on meeting content, or a more flexible tool.
  • You have a tight budget, aren’t paying for any of the apps above, and prefer to grab a free option.

The best AI meeting assistants at a glance