TL;DR

TL;DR: No one wants to be in a meeting where they feel like they’re being recorded. But at the same time, you can’t ignore the benefits of AI technology and it’s impact on streamlining workflow. That’s why Shadow offers a bot-free meeting assistant solution, ensuring natural conversation flow while leveraging AI for seamless productivity. It automates note-taking, frees up time for meaningful work, and ensures commitments are met, all without disrupting the natural meeting experience. Additionally, this article navigates regulatory landscapes for AI-powered recording, promoting compliance and ethical usage.

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What is a botless meeting assistant?

Most of us have become familiar with AI note takers and AI meeting summaries by now. You might have even seen one or two in your latest meetings. It’s a tool that allows you to automate the note taking process entirely by generating meeting minutes on your behalf. Why do meeting bots in exist? To record meetings.

They’re great for the person that invited it to take the notes. But for the rest of the participants, it can come off as uncomfortable and unnatural, almost like you’re being watched. It reminds you of “Big Brother is Watching” and George Orwell’s whole dystopian novel on being constantly surveilled by technology. (Not a good feeling) So in order to make conversations natural but also ensure no key points are slipping through the cracks, a new trend has emerged : botless meeting assistants.

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Understanding Meeting Bots

A botless meeting assistant refers to an AI-powered tool or software designed to aid in meeting management and productivity without being visibly present as a bot or automated entity within the meeting platform. Unlike traditional chatbots or virtual assistants that join meetings as identifiable entities, a botless meeting assistant operates discreetly in the background, interacting with meeting content and participants without drawing attention to its presence.

But before we go into the nitty gritty details of a botless meeting assistant, it’s important to get familiar with how this market emerged in the first place. Let’s rewind back in time to 2020 when it was the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, and everyone is being asked (or forced) to isolate and stay home. In adherence to regulations, companies came up with a temporary solution to work remotely. At the time it was supposed to be temporary but then people began to notice how productive and cost efficient it was to discuss business strictly online. There was no need for office chit chat, employees couldn’t escape to the nap room, or be out on coffee runs. People still needed to meet and share ideas, just less frequently and with a more focused agenda. Zoom became a whole thing, and institutions needed a way to keep track of everything that was happening online.

Naturally, with the advancement of technology (a couple highs and lows in TSLA) and the main stream adoption of AI, came the AI meeting assistant. The AI meeting assistant market quickly grew to be valued at 1.81 billion USD in 2022, with a projected CAGR of 25.6%. Just in case you needed a reminder, AI meeting assistants, are the programs that join meetings as separate participants, tasked with taking notes. While these bots aim to improve productivity, they often disrupt human interactions, creating barriers and hindering natural conversation flow. Imagine expecting a one-on-one conversation only to be surprised by the presence of an AI bot. It makes sense that conversations were resulting in a less authentic and engaging interaction.

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Why Shadow?

As mentioned above, AI bots are meant to record meetings. But if what you need are just good meeting notes then Shadow is for you. In response to the limitations of As mentioned above, AI bots are meant to record meetings. But if what you need are just good meeting notes then Shadow is for you.traditional meeting bots, botless meeting assistants such as Shadow have emerged as a viable alternative. They preserve the natural flow of conversations, fostering authentic engagement and collaboration among participants. Not to mention that it operates it autopilot mode 🥷🏻

Choosing Shadow offers an array of solutions to common workplace challenges, enhancing productivity and streamlining communication.

For those struggling to fully engage during meetings due to note-taking, Shadow's AI automatically records discussions, allowing participants to focus on the conversation's essence without distractions. This ensures a more meaningful and productive exchange of ideas.
In environments where AI bots may feel impersonal, Shadow offers a bot-free solution, fostering genuine and sincere conversations with a seamless flow. This human-centric approach promotes better understanding and collaboration among team members.
For individuals burdened with the time-consuming task of organizing and following up on post-meeting tasks, Shadow's Skills feature steps in. By swiftly completing tasks discussed during meetings, Shadow frees up valuable time for more important and meaningful work, boosting overall efficiency.
To address the common issue of forgetting important insights and commitments made during meetings, Shadow's Skills function acts as a reliable memory aid. By ensuring commitments are noted and followed through, Shadow helps individuals cultivate a reputation for reliability and accountability, ultimately fostering a culture of trust and productivity within the organization.

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Navigating Regulatory Landscapes

It’s important to note that legal considerations come into play when employing AI-powered recording during meetings. The world is still figuring it out as AI is being developed, meaning that you’re going to have to navigate through some regulations (or constantly ask Google). Here’s what I found so far:

State Laws

Eleven states require consent from all parties: California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington
Consent can be implied if parties are notified of recording and continue the conversation
Interstate calls may be subject to the laws of multiple states, but generally, the jurisdiction where the recording device is located governs
States that operate under one-party consent laws = as long as one party involved in the conversation consents to the recording, it is generally legal
Oregon, Nevada, Colorado are mixed and Vermont don’t have specified laws required

HIPAA Data Privacy Regulations

ChatGPT is not HIPAA compliant and cannot be used to (for example) summarize patients’ notes or compile letters to patients that include Protected Health Information because OpenAI – the developer of ChatGPT – will not enter into a Business Associate Agreement with covered entities and business associates. However, there are ways to use ChatGPT in compliance with HIPAA
there are Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT) solutions that can be used in healthcare and tools that can be combined with ChatGPT to gain the benefits in a HIPAA-compliant way
in order to be HIPAA compliant you need to remove any personally identifiable information (PII) or protected health information (PHI) or if it's a third party, have a HIPAA-compliant business associate agreement (BAA)

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Conclusion

Use AI at your own risk.

No but seriously, make sure that you strive to leverage technology in accordance to the rapidly changing laws. Both the technology and the regulations regarding it are constantly updating, so consider all the facts and options when deciding which tool to use. Please consult with your desired legal counsel. There’s never anything as being too safe.

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