Session Notes - AI Notetakers
This page is a resource for those who participated in one of our AI Notetaker workshops.
We'll keep this page updated as the conversations continue. Please send us any comments and thoughts.
Here's the link to Matt's LinkedIn article: AI Notetakers: The Canary in the AI Coal Mine
Background
AI notetakers are becoming ubiquitous participants in our meetings. They offer mostly accurate transcriptions, comprehensive summaries in multiple formats, and actionable task lists. While they save time, enhance follow-ups, and have the potential to encourage participation, they also introduce privacy concerns, potential biases, and legal ambiguities, serving as a microcosm of larger AI challenges. Forward-thinking companies are addressing these by fostering AI literacy and ethical awareness, empowering their employees to make smart, well-informed decisions about how they use AI.
Leading vendors
All the large workspace platforms (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams) are building note taker functionality into their core meeting offerings. In addition, the following "standalone" solutions offer additional features often tailored to a particular use case or industry.
Trust and Transparency
At the highest level, the success of the notetakers will rest on the level of trust between meeting hosts and attendees. Open, honest, transparent communication of how they will be used is critical.
We talked about having a simple, direct way to introduce the role of an AI notetaker in your meeting. Here's an informal sample script.
I'm using an AI notetaker for this meeting. I use this so that I can focus on our conversation and don't need to take notes. If you like, I'm happy to share the recording, transcript, and summary with you. If you're uncomfortable at any time, we can pause the recording or turn it off entirely. I want to make sure you're comfortable with this.
Here's the slide that we use in the session to clarify our session policy.​​​
Best Practices
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As an organization:
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Decide if and how you’ll implement these tools, and set specific policies
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Implement strict access controls and data security measures
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Socialize your team on the tools, and train them on best practices
As a meeting host or organizer:
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Be clear with participants about recording, retention, and usage policy
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Regularly review and correct AI outputs
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Be mindful of power differentials and cultural differences
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As a meeting participant:
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Ask for clarity regarding recording and usage
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Exercise your right to ask to pause the recording
Positive norms around these tools won't develop by themselves! It's up to all of us to model, socialize, and train within our teams and organizations.
Group Activity
The small group activity tasks each team with guessing the top responses that 100 people surveyed had in three categories:
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The emotions that come up when encountering/considering AI notetakers
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The benefits that they identify
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The concerns that they raise
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Actually surveying 100 people is a lot of work! So we asked ChatGPT to come up with that data for us, and we think it did a pretty good job. "Survey says..."
From the lawyers
Two articles from law firms on the opportunities and risks of using AI notetakers.
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McInnes Wilson: AI Notetaker Tools – Time Saver Or Ticking Time Bomb? ​​
Fisher Phillips: AI Notetaking Tools Are All the Rage – But Should You Use Them? Employers Should Weigh These Risks First