Artificial Intelligence has invaded the team room with the aim to make everyone more efficient, productive, and smart.
What was unheard of a few short years ago is now a reality for any virtual and live meetings. AI can record and transcribe everything that is said and summarize it into an insightful package.
Leaders and team members have begun to embrace the power of transcription, and many use it for most meetings and conversations.
Some people even go as far as to wear a button device that records everything that goes on around them, including their outspoken thoughts.
The benefits of capturing the content of meetings and interactions are obvious. It makes the key points, takeaways, and decisions instantly available for everyone to digest and act upon.
Not only are the notes more accurate, but the transcription resource also allows meeting participants to focus fully on discussions rather than note-taking. Those who miss the meeting can enjoy a full download anytime that is convenient for them.
Several of the AI tools can even search for themes and patterns in the content data. Given so many advantages, what could go wrong?
The answer is a lot.
Whatever gets said or discussed is now on permanent record, including the candid remarks a leader or team member makes during a heated exchange.
Once the record exists, anyone can share it, including those who will take issue with the criticisms or remarks made. Any proprietary or confidential data is now accessible to others.
Legal risks rise because the transcripts place leaders on record for the reasons (good and bad) behind their decisions.
The community of enterprises and businesses is already replete with horrible stories about leaders and team members who have been “outed” for things they have said about people, policies, and issues during meetings and conversations.
Because transcriptions and their summaries miss the critical human elements that give rise to meaning, such as tone, emotion, and sarcasm, they often distort what actually happened.
Before you rush to join the bandwagon to record, transcribe, and synthesize the content of your meetings, consider whether you want everything said on record and potentially shared with others.
In many cases, AI transcription is a great call and makes everyone more effective. But in other instances, transcription will wreak havoc with the interpretation of events by some and significantly invade privacy and confidentiality.
An extra note of caution: Many meetings and conversations are automatically recorded and transcribed without the awareness of the attendees.
Learning that you have been recorded after the fact can be a very unsettling feeling. So, make it a point to be clear when AI transcription is being used.
It is not a good idea to capture everything all the time. Pick your spots and enjoy the power of these incredible tools. Don’t let them sink your ship by transcribing what you really think about your colleague’s promotion or your assistant’s taste in clothes.
