Google Meet’s new AI note-taking feature rolling out; no more excuses for missing that 'important point'

Google Meet’s latest AI-powered feature is here to make sure you never miss a word—literally. With the new “take notes for me” option, Google is taking the art of multitasking to a whole new level. Now, when you’re in a meeting, you can let the AI handle the note-taking.

This feature is available to Google Workspace customers with the Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Education Premium, or AI Meetings & Messaging add-ons. Announced at Google’s 2023 Cloud Next conference, this tool is designed to make it easier to catch up on meetings by summarising discussions rather than transcribing them word-for-word.

The feature is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s a lifesaver for those who find it tough to keep up with fast-paced discussions. On the other hand, it means you can no longer claim you “totally didn’t hear that last part” when your boss drops a new project on your plate. With Google Meet auto-summarising everything and sending out a tidy Google Doc afterward, you’re out of excuses for missing anything important.

How it works

The feature currently supports only spoken English and automatically generates notes in a Google Doc. After the meeting, this document is attached to the calendar event and sent to the meeting organiser and anyone else who enabled the feature. This ensures that even if you miss a meeting, you can easily review the main points discussed.

To activate the note-taking feature, users can click on the pencil icon in the top right corner of the Google Meet interface. The tool also offers a summary of what you missed if you join a meeting late, allowing you to catch up quickly without disrupting the ongoing discussion. If you use Google Meet’s recording and transcription features simultaneously, the links to those files will be included in the same document as the meeting notes.

Accuracy concerns

However, there are some concerns about the accuracy of the AI-powered notes. Users have reported issues with Google Meet’s transcription tool, which often requires manual corrections. Whether this new note-taking feature will be more reliable remains to be seen. Google plans to complete the rollout of this feature to all Google Workspace customers by 10th September 2024, but it’s unclear how precise the AI-generated notes will be.