You spot on nailed it.
We’ve opposed it at my work and will continue to do so for now. I’m not in the legal profession (I’m sciences) and we have a fairly casual, relaxed atmosphere. People have to be able to talk freely, and they cannot do that if their every word is being recorded. We need to be able to exchange ideas and discuss them. Anyone writing notes will only be noting key points (hopefully) and knows what to dispose of once the task has concluded.
We do also have confidential meetings so have had to be aware of legal implications as well (especially as we are in the U.K. and most the more popular services are running on U.S. servers with all the joys that the Patriot Act entails).
Yes, client confidentiality is a key consideration and notes taken at such meetings will contain client confidential information. I find it interesting that we are comfortable with short hand notes of meetings provided they are kept securely but are not comfortable with automated transcriptions.
Agreed Rob. A large number of my meetings are now on Teams and with the roll out of Copilot in the near future in our organisation the functionality you mention shouldn’t be too far off. But I expect that even when it is a few clicks away in Teams it may take some years before we are willing to use it and we will continue scribbling hand notes during meetings.
I would not be comfortable with automated transcription for anything even moderately confidential. The transcription services are networked, and copies of the data will reside on multiple servers in multiple places. Ideally, those copies are transient. Realistically, they often aren’t.
But would you be comfortable in those circumstances with notes being taken by hand or typed? Such notes, particularly if saved in electronic form, could be as persistent as transcription records. Sure, they won’t be as accurate or comprehensive a record but could nonetheless convey as much sensitive information as a recording or transcript.
My point is that we seem to be comfortable with attendees at most meetings taking notes but draw the line at recordings and transcriptions.
The potential vector is reduced; in fact I’ve been at meetings where notes had to be vetted. Sure, the vulnerability is there, but it’s not anything like as risky.
Social chit-chat at meetings is rarely part of attendees’ notes or the minutes. It would be part of a digital transcription, and provide potential for social engineering. This is part of the reason audio recordings are expressly forbidden at some workplaces.
Sure, because those notes would be typed and saved on company-owned devices controlled by clearly stated company policies. Not absorbed into an AI provider’s servers without even a clearly stated ownership and retention policy given.
Maybe. I don’t know about you but I take tons of notes and things still feel like they slip through for me.
I’m blessed by having an EA who takes copious notes during my senior leadership team meetings. I focus on the conversation and only write down things that I specifically need to follow up on for myself or with a member of the team. I transfer that information to my task manager. Accordingly, I am fortunate in that I seldom have things slip through the cracks. That is not so much a testament to my abilities as it is to the fact that I’m blessed to have such a capable EA as well as senior leadership team members. They make my work much easier.