Zoom Changing how AI Note-takers Can Be Used – Will Microsoft Follow?

Something interesting appeared in the TOS for Read.ai last week regarding using their note-taker with Zoom meetings:

Zoom is implementing new security policies that require all meeting bots to be explicitly authorized by an authenticated Zoom user. This means Read can no longer join your meetings unless you connect your Zoom account.

Additionally, Read will no longer be able to join your Zoom meetings unless you are present in the meeting, and are logged into the Zoom account you have connected to Read. The Zoom account does not need to be a paid account, free Zoom account will work.

The first paragraph makes it obvious that you can’t be an unnamed guest in a Zoom meeting and invite your AI to take notes. That makes sense.

The second adds a requirement: you must also attend the meeting. No more sending your AI to take notes for you while you spend your time elsewhere.

Personally, I’m OK with that. I think it’s rather rude to not attend a meeting but expect the rest of us to put up with you recording it so your AI can go through the transcript and send you notes. Maybe that’s just me, though.

I assume Zoom is trying to quell the privacy and security risks inherent in AI taking notes in a meeting on behalf of someone who isn’t there in the first place, while also still allowing these AI tools to automatically start recording a transcript without the consent of people in the meeting, because getting that everytime might make many of these AI tools much less attractive. (Not to mention the fact that Zoom has those same AI tools available to meeting hosts!)

The question is: will other meeting platforms, like Teams, follow suit? Or are too many MS customers already down the path of using AI to get notes for meetings they’re too busy to attend? How would you feel if they did block AI tools unless you logged in to the meeting yourself?

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