The joy of AI notetaking bots
I’ve used Otter.ai to take notes for years, and frankly, I would loathe to give it up now. Every time I meet with a client, I ask if I can record the call so we both have all the notes. Then my little Otter bot sits quietly in the corner, transcribing every word, recording every sound and summarizing every task, detail and decision.
When ChatGPT came out two years ago (happy birthday, OpenAI!), Otter incorporated the ability to ask questions about the meeting so you can find the one detail from the 2-hour drone-a-thon that pertains to you. Otter was one of the first AI notetakers, and these days you have several more to choose from. And the online meeting tools themselves such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams are building the functionality into the meetings themselves.
Quick list of benefits
- They capture the audio and transcript so you truly get every word.
- They let you focus on the meeting rather than struggle to take notes while trying to listen and make eye contact.
- Most provide post-event summaries and lists of action items.
- Some let you “chat” with the transcripts to answer questions quickly and efficiently.
- Many connect to your calendar and attend meetings when you can’t make it.
- You can share the notes with participants so everyone literally stays on the same page.
- Some are free, and most have affordable upgrades.
The headache of AI notetaking bots
Otter used to be my secret weapon to make meetings more productive.
But it’s not a secret anymore. AI notetaking bots are showing up uninvited at webinars, committee meetings, staff meetings, presentations and many more places they may not belong. And managing them is proving to be a challenge.
Many people haven’t thought much about these headaches yet, so here are some questions to ponder.
- Will participants forget they’re being recorded and say something inappropriate? I heard a horror story from a woman who brought an AI notetaker to a job interview. She left the interview but her notetaker stayed and captured the not-so-great conversation about her after she left. Ugh!
- Will a recording break your bylaws for committee/board meetings?
- If the meeting is a part of a public record, could the recordings of a random person’s AI notetaker be subpoenaed?
- Is it ok for attendees to record webinar content and other educational programs? Other people have paid for the program, and now someone has the whole thing for free to share.
- Does a participant’s AI notetaking app use the meeting content to train the app’s AI output? (Check out this summary of policies from several major players.)
- Special problem… breakout rooms! If you let a bot in, will you remember to put it in the breakout room with its person? If not, you’re letting it listen in on strangers while the owner is off somewhere else.
(Unauthorized recording isn’t a new problem)
Many people are rightfully worried about AI notetaking apps these days, but I have to chuckle a little.
We’ve always been able to surreptitiously record meetings. From a screen capture to a cell phone voice note to a tiny little 007 martini olive video camera, the ability to sneak a recording of something they shouldn’t.
But AI notetaking bots make it so easy, so fast and so helpful that more and more people are doing it as a matter of course. And so far Zoom and its cousins don’t have an easy way to identify and manage them. So it’s up to you.
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