AI-powered meeting note takers are raising new workplace privacy alarms.
The issue started as bots from platforms like Zoom, Teams, and Meet quietly joined virtual meetings. Startups such as Otter and Fathom also provide AI tools that listen, record, and summarize meetings — often outnumbering the humans in the room.
Soon after, workers raised flags. Many feel constant recording chills honest talk and turns meetings into performance shows. Lawyers and execs warn about legal gray areas when these bots monitor meetings without full consent. 
The backlash focuses on privacy, consent, and how AI could erode genuine human interaction.
Always-on AI is raising fresh privacy concerns in the workplace.
AI-powered note takers are increasingly filling virtual meeting rooms, sometimes even outnumbering the humans present. Workers are now sending bots to listen, record, and summarise meetings they no longer feel the need to attend themselves.
Major platforms such as Zoom, Teams and Meet offer built-in AI transcription, while startups like Otter and Fathom provide bots that quietly join meetings or listen in through users’ devices. The tools raise new concerns about privacy, consent, and the erosion of human engagement.
Some workers worry that constant recording suppresses honest conversation and makes meetings feel performative. Others, including lawyers and business leaders, point out the legal grey zones created by using these bots without full consent.
