If you have sat through a meeting recently and wished someone else had written down what was agreed, AI note takers might be one of the most practical tools you can add to your working day. Here is what they are, how they work and a few small things to bear in mind before you start using them.

What is an AI note taker?

An AI note taker is a piece of software that joins your online meetings, listens to the conversation and then produces a written summary afterwards. Most of them will also give you a full transcript, pick out action points and flag who said what.

Popular tools include Otter.ai and Microsoft Copilot, which is built directly into Teams if you are already on a Microsoft 365 plan. They work with most video call platforms including Teams, Zoom, and Google Meet. The idea is simple. Rather than half-listening to a meeting while trying to scribble notes, you stay present in the conversation and let the AI handle the write-up.

Why Businesses are Using them

The time saving alone makes them worth considering. Meetings that used to produce three pages of notes that nobody read can now produce a clean, two-paragraph summary with a clear list of next steps. For teams juggling a lot of client calls or internal check-ins, that adds up quickly.

They are also useful for anyone who could not attend. Instead of a lengthy catch-up conversation, you send them the summary and they are up to speed in two minutes.

Some tools go further than just summarising. They can search back through previous meeting transcripts, track whether agreed actions were followed up on, and even flag recurring topics across multiple calls. For business owners trying to keep on top of a busy pipeline, that kind of visibility can be genuinely useful.

For client-facing teams, there is another benefit worth mentioning. When a client raises something that was discussed three months ago, having a searchable transcript means you can find it in seconds rather than digging through email chains or relying on memory.

A Few things to get Right First

Before you rush and go switch one on, there are some important basics to cover.

Always tell everyone on the call that an AI tool is recording and transcribing. This is not just good manners. Under UK data protection law, people have a right to know when they are being recorded. Springing it on someone after the fact is not acceptable and could land your business in hot water.

Be mindful of what is being discussed. Sensitive business information or anything confidential should be handled carefully. Check where your chosen tool stores its data, whether it is held in the UK or overseas, and whether that meets your obligations under GDPR.

It is also worth setting a clear internal policy on when AI note takers should and should not be used. Not every meeting needs to be transcribed, and some conversations are better kept off the record entirely.

Finally, always review the output before you share it. AI note takers are good, but they are not perfect. Names get confused, technical terms get mangled, and context occasionally gets lost. A two-minute check before you send a summary to a client could save a lot of embarrassment.#

More Hassle than Good or Genuinely Worth it?

Used properly, AI note takers are a genuine time saver that free your team up to focus on the conversation rather than the admin around it. Used carelessly, they can create problems that take far longer to fix than taking the notes yourself would have.

If you want advice on which tools fit your existing Microsoft or IT setup, get in touch! At Three Cherries, we take the gamble out of business technology.