In this series from IABC’s Professional Development & Content Committee, we unpack industry trends for insights that you can take on-the-go.

Will AI-powered meeting tools increase productivity or muddy the waters of human collaboration?

At a Glance

Earlier this year, Microsoft and Zoom unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) features across their platforms, as the race to lead the AI revolution shows no signs of slowing.

Zoom’s tool, AI Companion, was integrated into paid users’ subscriptions this fall. It includes features like summarizing meetings with next steps, catching up via side panel when you’re running late to a meeting, creating chat responses with generative AI, asking questions in multiple languages, drafting email responses and more. Reports indicate that by spring the platform will also offer real-time feedback on presentation skills.

Microsoft Copilot offers similar features in terms of summarizing meetings via Teams, as well as a number of tools across the Office 365 suite. For example, in Microsoft Word, Copilot can assist with generating text, while in PowerPoint, it offers easy ways to make designs more consistent across slides. In Outlook, Copilot offers smart suggestions for follow-ups and will soon offer summaries when you can’t attend a meeting.

Beyond Zoom and Microsoft, other AI virtual assistants offer features that can drill into the nitty gritty of human conversation, including how long you spoke and how many times you were interrupted.

What This Means for Communicators

Like with most generative AI tools, the possibility of productivity gains is the biggest draw. In discussing this trend with the IABC Professional Development & Content (PD&C) Committee, several members expressed that the ability for AI to summarize meeting notes and next steps alone is of great value.

And in those instances when you’re day is filled with a wall of meetings? Leaning on AI to catch up on what you missed seems like an easy win.

But what about features that report on meeting performance or offer real-time feedback on presentation skills? Will this inspire individuals to improve or will it create a culture of surveillance? Will these “catch up” tools discourage regular meeting attendance, or will it shed light on the ineffectiveness of some meetings? Do we need to worry about tech companies slurping up our video and chat data, despite being reassured this information isn’t used to train their platforms?

There’s no black and white answer here, but more likely than not the benefits will continue to outweigh the risks. As we’re seeing with communicators using platforms like ChatGPT, the key will be to test, learn and develop policies that maintain your organization’s integrity and privacy, while reaping as many benefits as possible from this emerging technology.

Further Reading and Resources

• “Zoom's New 'AI Companion' Will Catch You Up When You're Late to Meetings” (CNET)
• “Do Productivity Gains From Generative AI Outweigh the Security Risks?” (Computerworld)
• “What Can Copilot’s Earliest Users Teach Us About Generative AI at Work?” (Microsoft WorkLab)
• “The Annoying Person in Your Work Meeting Might Just Be You” (Wall Street Journal, may require subscription or free login)
• “AI and You: Zoom Slurping, Fitting Running Shoes, Finding Training Data” (CNET)

 

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