By now you’ve probably all seen the mysterious participants with names such as “Beth AI Notetaker” show up in online meetings. They’re AI notetaking bots, and they’re solving problems just as quickly as they’re creating them.

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.

How to manage AI notetaking bots in your meetings

The invasion of the AI notetaking bots doesn’t have to derail your meetings. Here are my best recommendations for smart management of these tools for you and others. I also used Perplexity to do a lot of research of other policies and concerns. You can check out the interactive summary here.

Step One: Create a Policy

Think about all your online meetings, and make blanket decisions about whether you or participants should be able to record. Maybe committee meetings can be recorded but board meetings can’t. Maybe HR trainings are ok, but HR one-on-one meetings aren’t.

To me it’s all about setting up rules and communicating them. We’re having a great discussion about this on LinkedIn, and a couple of organizations have official policies. Others just do what they feel is right for that particular meeting. But if you have guidelines set, you always have an answer of what to do rather than sitting there feeling uncomfortable.

Step Two: Set Up an Official Notetaker

Once you know what you can and can’t record, figure out a tool that everyone at your company can use as the baseline recorder. You probably already do that when you record Zoom meetings, especially if you add on their AI Assistant (Note: right now Zoom’s tool isn’t nearly as helpful as Otter or others because you can’t chat with it).

Having an official notetaking tool means that you don’t have to let participants bring theirs in but can still give everyone the benefit of the technology. You can simply tell everyone that the official AI notes will be distributed.

Step Three: Communicate Recording Status for Each Meeting

Just like you have to click a button to accept that Zoom is recording your meeting, make sure people know that you’re using an AI notetaking app. You can state it at the beginning of the meeting or even in the invitation. You can also let people know in advance if their own notetaking tools are allowed to participate.

I experimented with how notifications come in when an AI notetaking bot is recording. When I turned off my Zoom recording, Zoom still showed that the meeting was being recorded by Otter.

Step Four: Check Meeting Settings to Keep Notetakers Out Automatically

One (kinda) easy way to prevent AI notetakers is to require participants to be logged in (authenticated) to attend. That’s a good solution for an internal meeting, but a little unreasonable if you’re putting on an educational program or meeting with clients or vendors or committee members.

Zoom

My Otter friend shows up to every online meeting on my calendar, so I rarely think about it. But the other day I checked a recording and saw that the group had prevented it from recording. I hadn’t seen this before, so I investigated my Zoom settings and made a 174-second video for you.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams drives me nuts, so I rarely use it. But I know many of you do, so I looked around and didn’t find an easy setting like I did for Zoom.

It seems from an admin level you can block certain apps in Teams. You can also prevent anonymous users from joining and/or interacting with apps.

Here’s a thread from Teams about some settings to check.

Step Five: Keep an Eye Out for Rogue AI Bots

As I mentioned in the video above, reputable AI notetakers should be clearly labeled as such. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t stealth tools out there that don’t state their artificialness. But you should be able to see participants that aren’t real people.

Waiting rooms make this easy. Just don’t let ’em in. And if they get in anyway, just use your masterful host powers and kick ’em out.

Step Six: Keep an Eye Out for Changes

Y’all, I am nerding as fast I can, and even I struggle to keep up with all the new features, tools, functionalities, etc. Every 3-6 months, stop and assess the current state of the chatbot recording world, both within your online platform and in the world of AI recording bots. I know Zoom and Teams are going to keep improving, and they may make a big change that renders moot the decisions you have carefully made.

Bonus Step: Be a Courteous Notetaking Participant

In the LinkedIn conversation, someone mentioned that it seemed rude if a participant shows up to a meeting with an AI recorder. (I do that all the time, but not on purpose. I just forget that it will show up automatically.)

But it’s important to be respectful when you are bringing along (or sending) your AI notetaker.

Otter settings let you configure whether your bot shares links to the transcript and summary in the chat.

Also check out the last setting on the graphic above. This will send emails before a meeting warning that you’ll be recording. It’s probably nicer to ask permission instead.

Oh, and check to see if your Otter is sending out notes automatically. They can come with urgent messages to sign up for Otter, and people might get annoyed.