Recalling the content, topics, or issues discussed in an online meeting has never been easier with the help of artificial intelligence. Often, we don’t have the opportunity to jot down everything during a meeting while the microphone is on. With AI’s capabilities and its tools, it’s now possible to automatically generate meeting summaries, capture key points, and assess speaker engagement.
Language models developed by OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta open up new possibilities for accurate and high-quality AI-powered transcription. For example, Zoom, which introduced its AI Companion for subscribers, has trained this system using a vast array of employee meetings from various organizations, significantly enhancing the potential for successful outcomes.
Using natural language processing, AI synthesizes long discussions and organizes them into summaries, highlighting the most critical points. One of the key applications of this tool is meeting summaries, which can be generated at any time during a meeting, not just after it ends. On platforms like Zoom, for instance, users can access this feature whenever they need it. Additionally, AI can create idea boards, visualizing the expressed thoughts.
With the phrase “catch me up,” the AI Companion can take notes of the conversation that might have been missed or misunderstood during the live meeting, helping users stay on track with the current discussion.
Another feature is the ability to capture the emotional tone of the meeting. After the meeting, machine learning systems can summarize the overall atmosphere, noting the emotions expressed by different participants, identifying moments of tension, and more.
Yet another functionality is identifying the most active speaker. Although the system doesn’t provide exact speaking time for each participant, the generated transcript can offer a clear idea of who contributed most to the discussion.
As in many fields, AI tools automate certain processes, saving time in the process. This means that during or after a meeting, there’s no need to finish taking notes or try to capture the details you may have missed. AI captures all the meeting’s details, creating thorough and comprehensive notes that cover everything.
By eliminating the need for multitasking, AI allows participants to focus entirely on the ongoing discussion, fully engaging in the conversation without the distraction of taking meeting notes.
Another crucial aspect is that AI-generated notes are created even when the conversation isn’t being recorded, using temporary transcripts to generate summaries. These AI-generated notes are valuable for those who missed the meeting, providing an unbiased account of the conversation. This is important, as different colleagues might emphasize different issues or solutions discussed during the session.
It’s worth noting that transcription tools aren’t only useful in business meetings, where they’re especially convenient. Emotional tracking is also valuable in business contexts, as it helps identify whether a client is interested in a proposal or assesses participants’ moods during conflict resolution.
However, this tool is also beneficial in universities, where lectures often present a large volume of information, making it hard to note everything. It’s especially helpful for students with health issues that make note-taking difficult.
In journalism or publishing, this tool can help structure public speeches, important announcements, or material from meetings and conferences.
Nonetheless, this technology requires a clearly defined structure and thematic consistency to ensure that the summary is of high quality.
In a world where time is increasingly scarce, transcription with AI Companion becomes a valuable tool that saves time and allows us to focus on more demanding tasks—like engaging in meaningful discussions and fully participating in various meetings. Sources: Zoom, Wired