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

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

#361

Post by immibis »

0xEF wrote: post #322
VSerge wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair point in your case, but my experience across companies and industries is that people just don't read. It's true in any customer facing experience where tutorials etc are routinely unread and ignored, it's true for execs who are always short on time and want the exec summary in order no to read a whole memo (however misguided this may be in certain instances), it's true for seasoned professionals who prioritize a…

> people just don't read You're right, and that tracks with my experience too, sad as it is to have to admit. However, if you're not holding people accountable for not reading the directive/memo, then that's on you. When you have something in writing that you can point to and say "look, there it is, I provided you with the information, you chose to not acknowledge it," it's very damning to the person who ignored it.…

Accountable for what? "They pretend to pay us, we pretend to work"?

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

#362

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

ipaddr wrote: post #246
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with all processes is that people aren’t interested in sticking with them. Why is your team 20 people if the majority don’t do anything you’re remotely close to? Someone should have split the team or at least the standup. Why doesn’t your lead enforce a time limit and script? It can happen the other way round as well. My team is small but only I ever stick to the script. Every one else talks in detail for…

Now you need three managers. The reason for the 20 person standup is to save money and give lip service to the standup trend.

Easy. Have another team member run the stand up.

Again the problem is that no one is interested in processes to make things better or more efficient and then people blame the process.

The process might have plenty of short comings, but we’ll never know.

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

#363

Post by ozgrakkurt »

captainkrtek wrote: post #334

My company started to use an AI note taker for interviews. I was skeptical but had no say and decided to reserve my judgement. What surprised me was how many notes it produced. it will write hundreds of bullet points which ends up feeling exhaustive to try and review. In addition it makes lots of mistakes, maybe due to misinterpreting what a candidate said, accents/audio issues. So while I didn’t have to type during…

It kind of does what a human would do but in the most artificial and bloated way. It doesn’t have that extra thing that a human does to highlight things and filter out the garbage

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

#364

Post by varispeed »

tstrimple wrote: post #341
varispeed wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprised by the downvotes, honestly. Inclusivity isn't about asking everyone to conform to neurotypical norms - it's about creating space for different ways of working and communicating. If even mentioning that feels unwelcome, that says something worth reflecting on.

I think the issue it that you're speaking to an ideal that doesn't tend to stand up in reality. The reality is if people stop seeing your face in meetings people are less likely to think about you. This may feel good to the stereotypical introvert who just wants to get things done and be left alone. But it can be a career killer. This is very apparent in hybrid companies where folks in the office with incidental face…

Calling it a "career killer" to avoid constant face time ignores the reality that many people are masking disabilities just to survive daily interactions. Burnout from that kind of masking _is_ a career killer - just a quieter, slower one. We wouldn't tell someone in a wheelchair to "get more visible by taking the stairs." Yet we build ramps, pat ourselves on the back, and ignore invisible disabilities entirely. The fact that this kind of exclusion is still seen as normal - even strategic - should be a source of shame, not resignation.

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

#365

Post by varispeed »

esafak wrote: post #349
varispeed wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surprised by the downvotes, honestly. Inclusivity isn't about asking everyone to conform to neurotypical norms - it's about creating space for different ways of working and communicating. If even mentioning that feels unwelcome, that says something worth reflecting on.

Imagine working in a team where you have never seen the face of your coworkers... Don't even be sure they're real; there are increasingly people who outsource their work to bots these days.

You're looking at this through a neurotypical lens. I've worked in teams where I never saw most people’s faces, and yet we had genuine camaraderie and trust -built through shared work, not video feeds. For many neurodivergent people, faces and expressions aren't sources of connection - they're noise. Video calls can turn into a performance: "Does my face match what I'm saying?" "Did I laugh at the wrong moment?" "Is it my turn to speak yet?" That constant second-guessing burns cognitive energy that could go into actual contribution.

When we treat visible presence as a proxy for being "real," we exclude people who can't - or shouldn't have to - mimic neurotypical behaviour just to belong.

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

#366

Post by ElevenLathe »

smaudet wrote: post #336
ElevenLathe wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO management positions are mostly lobbied for/created by try-hard social climbers, at least initially. "We're taking a lot of X work, maybe I should lead a team to deal with that?" "Y has so many reports, maybe I can form a subgroup to help with that?" Creating new positions for people who want to be more important than they are right now is the main mechanism by which private orgs expand. Doing this is considered…

I have a suspicion managers will become redundant sooner than tech workers, although certain big CEOs love to try to say otherwise... (wonder why...). An (good) AI manager is far more efficient than any human manager, and doesn't need to resort to this tiered system. In theory, they are far faster any any human manager too, meaning the company can scale around them without any issue. Maybe you still have a board that…

I have the same suspicion that ultimately we will be working for the machines (which are owned by investors) rather than the other way around.

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

#367

Post by teddyh »

Aurornis wrote: post #310
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…

> The problem is these meetings are so low information density even an AI summary is not worth my time. I've been in my share of useless meetings. However, I've been fortunate enough to be able to cut down the useless meetings at most of my jobs (with one exception, which was awful). The problem now is that the AI note takers are turning even the good meetings into useless exercises. It's obvious that the AI note tak…

It reminds me of the recurring scene in Real Genius with the lectures and the tape recorders.

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

#368

Post by esafak »

apwell23 wrote: post #19
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…

> it's more likely that they're being judged on their attendance of BS meetings Some middle manager types in my company track emoji reactions to their messages in slack. I got written up for it, no joke. That was easy to automate though.

You did not use the right amount of flair?!

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

#369

Post by philwelch »

freshpots wrote: post #360
stoneyhrm1 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spoken like a true project manager that every engineer hates.

Are you an actual engineer with a degree and subsequent accreditation through a professional body? or an "engineer" by role? Those mean very different things depending on country, quality of education and skills or...how many Microsoft Points you have.

So many people calling themselves “engineers” these days don’t even know the first thing about siege warfare.

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

#370

Post by scott_w »

laserlight wrote: post #311
scott_w wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So add yet more process and bureaucracy instead of following tried and true management techniques of having a synchronous meeting lasting 15 minutes every morning?

This whole thread is about how standups are not “tried and true”.

Ignoring the basics of a simple process doesn’t make the process “bad.”
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