During a Zoom meeting, the sound of someone typing notes can be annoying. However, Zoom’s new AI Companion feature can help with that. This feature, included with paid Zoom subscriptions, acts as an admin assistant during calls. It can summarize meetings, create action items, and even identify who spoke the most.
The AI Companion uses large language models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, and has been trained by listening to thousands of Zoom employee meetings. This tool can be accessed during a meeting by clicking on the icon below the main video window. It provides prompts like “Summarize the meeting” to help you get started.
In my tests, I found that the AI Companion works best when meetings are structured and focused. It can create a summary of key points discussed during the meeting. Additionally, you can ask the bot to “Catch me up” or inquire about action items to get a brief overview.
One of the most helpful features of the AI Companion is its ability to assess the tone of the meeting. You can ask questions like “What was the general tone of the meeting?” to get an understanding of the overall mood. This feature can be useful in business settings to gauge customer interest or handle conflicts with coworkers.
Another impressive feature is the bot’s ability to identify who is speaking the most during a meeting. This can help you understand your own participation and engagement levels. While the bot cannot provide individual speaking times, it can generate a transcript after the meeting to show who dominated the conversation.
Despite its capabilities, there are limitations to what the AI Companion can do. For example, it cannot schedule Zoom meetings based on participants’ calendars or act on your behalf during meetings. Additionally, the bot must be enabled by the host and may not be available in all corporate environments.
In conclusion, Zoom’s AI Companion is a valuable tool for maximizing meeting productivity. It can save time by summarizing discussions and identifying key points. While there are some limitations, the bot’s ability to assist with note-taking and meeting summaries can greatly enhance the meeting experience. With the AI Companion, there’s no need for clicking or clacking during Zoom calls.
