AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings • Hacker News Board

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#251

Post by Angostura » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:00 PM UTC

wkat4242 wrote: post #243

mft_ wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've led cross-functional teams in multiple organisations (albeit not in tech) and I'd argue it's a bit more complex than that. Regular team meetings can cover multiple needs, e.g.: * Keeping everyone working on a complex project updated on progress * Keeping everyone 'aligned' - (horrible corporate word but) essentially all working together effectively towards the same goals (be they short or long term) * Providing…

Yeah I hate those team calls too though. I don't give a shit what others in the team are doing. I'm not a team player at all. As such I always manoeuver myself into owning a particular topic which works well because I'm not slowed down by others. But these calls are something I just tune out on. I wouldn't even read the summary because I just don't care.

You’re going to be missing out on some really interesting problems, because the interesting ones are frequently cross-disciplinary, in my experience.

Still if you want to stick to what you know, that’s fine too.

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#252

Post by Shorel » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:04 PM UTC

PeterStuer wrote: post #160

meroes wrote: post #65

The problem is these meetings are so low information density even an AI summary is not worth my time. And it’s not some elitist mindset. It’s like the entire reason there are these regular meetings is to make some mid level person feel better. They like giving directions vocally because that authority is harder to question than if they wrote up a memo and all the receivers can poke holes in it. I’m convinced most mee…

They are "low information density" because that is not the point of the meeting. Meetings are first and foremost about relationship management. You do not get to management and certainly not climb the management hierarchy if you do not at least implicitly feel this. The actual meeting topic, while it can be relevant, is secondary. You establish and reinforce the pecking order, sense allegiance and subversion, or, fee…

For me, they are the corporate parasite people.

They add no value, except for themselves.

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#253

Post by HelloMcFly » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:05 PM UTC

stoneyhrm1 wrote: post #232

mft_ wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've led cross-functional teams in multiple organisations (albeit not in tech) and I'd argue it's a bit more complex than that. Regular team meetings can cover multiple needs, e.g.: * Keeping everyone working on a complex project updated on progress * Keeping everyone 'aligned' - (horrible corporate word but) essentially all working together effectively towards the same goals (be they short or long term) * Providing…

Spoken like a true project manager that every engineer hates.

Spoken like the stereotypical antisocial engineer that always thinks they've got all the answers, no matter the question.

Reductionism is easy, and cheap.

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#254

Post by nullsmack » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:09 PM UTC

Reminds me of the scene in Real Genius.. where more and more students were leaving tape recorders on their desks to record a lecture and then eventually their professor left one playing a recorded lecture to a room full of tape recorders.

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#255

Post by neilv » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:12 PM UTC

The worst thing about those "note taker" bots on video and voice calls isn't when your employer uses one internally -- where there might be awareness and at least nominal consent -- but when you get ambushed by one, at the start of a call, outside that company-internal context.

For example, on calls with customers/partners, or with a recruiter, or for a job interview.

Thanks, fellow human. You probably just sold out my voice and likeness -- and, if I don't notice and disconnect immediately, the content of our conversation, and any info I might share -- to some ruthless sociopath techbro startup. Which will use and abuse and leak the data. Even though they don't have rights. And it's actually a felony to be recording calls without consent where I live.

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#256

Post by thr0w » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:18 PM UTC

neilv wrote: post #255

The worst thing about those "note taker" bots on video and voice calls isn't when your employer uses one internally -- where there might be awareness and at least nominal consent -- but when you get ambushed by one, at the start of a call, outside that company-internal context. For example, on calls with customers/partners, or with a recruiter, or for a job interview. Thanks, fellow human. You probably just sold out…

I think Zoom throws up a consent screen. Obviously if it's some 3rd party thing that joins the call as a recorder, you don't get that.

This is one of those obvious but subtly inappropriate things that just kind of gets foisted on people. Nobody raises an eyebrow, or their voice, and so it's just normalized. Imagine walking into an in-person meeting to find a camcorder set up on a tripod - and if that isn't weird enough, none of your co-workers make a comment on it or acknowledge its presence. It's like pervasive but discreet cameras in public places vs. Surveillance Camera Man making it obvious by sticking a camera in your face.

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#257

Post by ferguess_k » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:20 PM UTC

pj_mukh wrote: post #16

jawns wrote: post #4

I bet there are a bunch of people in upper management who hear about this phenomenon and think that employees are skipping meetings to slack off (appearing to do work but they're actually playing Mario Kart). In reality, it's more likely that they're being judged on their attendance of BS meetings, but if they attend the BS meetings, they won't be able to make the BS deadlines they're responsible for hitting. So they…

Having had been on both sides of this coin, I agree a lot of managers mis-manage meetings. But then there's those engineers who don't show up to meetings and then a month later come to you with a "I don't know how we're deciding on some of these critical product features" and I don't know how to tell them its because they skipped some meetings where they could've been part of that discussion.

If it's critical it should always go through emails. And you can always tag everyone in the team to read the email. TBH if they ignore the emails they would also ignore whatever new features mentioned in the meeting because their mind is absent.

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#258

Post by marcosdumay » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:21 PM UTC

pj_mukh wrote: post #16

jawns wrote: post #4

I bet there are a bunch of people in upper management who hear about this phenomenon and think that employees are skipping meetings to slack off (appearing to do work but they're actually playing Mario Kart). In reality, it's more likely that they're being judged on their attendance of BS meetings, but if they attend the BS meetings, they won't be able to make the BS deadlines they're responsible for hitting. So they…

Having had been on both sides of this coin, I agree a lot of managers mis-manage meetings. But then there's those engineers who don't show up to meetings and then a month later come to you with a "I don't know how we're deciding on some of these critical product features" and I don't know how to tell them its because they skipped some meetings where they could've been part of that discussion.

Looks like your team isn't communicating the goals of your meetings well.

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#259

Post by data_marsupial » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:26 PM UTC

jannyfer wrote: post #120

lynx97 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I trust you thats the case for your environment. Where I work, useless meetings started to explode March 2020, and never went away.

Were you born in 1997? If so, it’s possible you just weren’t senior enough to see the 80% meeting workday prior to COVID.

There was a big step change in my experience, enabled by the adoption of Teams for remote work and the resulting ease of scheduling meetings. Previously meetings had always required the organiser to book a room.

Re: AI note takers are flooding Zoom calls as workers opt to skip meetings

#260

Post by ToucanLoucan » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 1:27 PM UTC

CuriouslyC wrote: post #236

PeterStuer wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are "low information density" because that is not the point of the meeting. Meetings are first and foremost about relationship management. You do not get to management and certainly not climb the management hierarchy if you do not at least implicitly feel this. The actual meeting topic, while it can be relevant, is secondary. You establish and reinforce the pecking order, sense allegiance and subversion, or, fee…

No, meetings are low information density because people are too lazy to plan an agenda and assign homework to a meeting beforehand, so that the meeting can focus on solutioning and actually delivering value. I noped out of management track to focus on being a top level IC because I could informally do the actually valuable "management" stuff in that role anyhow (documentation, planning, mentoring, client consultation…

Man people who talk like you must work in absolutely miserable companies.

Meetings at my workplace are to the point, never longer than they need to be, and while yeah I weasel out of as many as I feel I can, I don't send an AI notetaker nor do I need it summarized. We meet for a topic, we discuss that topic, usually bullshit for a little in and around the topic, and then we get back to work. I would say most of our half-hour scheduled meetings are 10 minutes, and most of our hour scheduled ones are about 30-40 depending what it is. If we have a LOT to do, VERY occasionally, we actually use up the full time and then end things promptly because we all have more to do.

We don't backstab or plot on one another, our work relationships are built on mutual respect for one another's contribution to our goals. Meetings (nor even being in leadership) are not about jockeying for power, they're about enabling the best of us to help push our goals forward.

I'm getting whole new kinds of appreciation for my job and it's deliberately small, flattened structure because apparently the default state of business is to turn into high school with higher stakes, and I would genuinely rather run into traffic than work at some of these places.