Very few people would associate human communication with artificial intelligence (AI) when thinking about the emergence of this technology. In fact, it offers a great deal of potential for facilitating better, more creative collaboration, if harnessed effectively.
Already it’s becoming ingrained in workplace collaboration technology; helping with note taking and meeting transcripts, among other activities.
According to industry analyst, Dave Smith, “there is a paradigm shift in digital workplace technologies and strategies to make enterprises more conversational and smarter”.
We’re seeing more importance being placed on collaboration workflows, information transmission and better user experience to improve all these conversational, collaborative experiences.
The more a technology like AI becomes embedded, the more opportunity humans will have to channel our energy away from the mundane admin-based tasks that drain our creative output.
Here are five ways AI can make more creative meetings possible:
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Automated note taking allows brainstorms to go full-speed
The days of being the meeting scribe and not absorbing what’s been said around you are over. Automated note taking and accurate meeting transcripts are one of the simplest ways AI can help free up meeting attendees to focus on the discussion taking place.
Further, transcripts can be searched for important keywords and ideas, allowing participants to fully absorb details after the meeting has concluded. Giving everyone at the meeting the ability to participate without the burden of constant note taking fosters a lively and uninhibited discussion, encouraging a seamless flow of ideas.
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AI-powered action items, agenda updates and deadline management
AI technology is founded in rules-based responses to decisions, meaning it can be taught to recognise particular keywords. Organisers can plug in important words and the AI can recognise them and react – meaning the technology is equipped to draft action items, a more complex task than just providing a transcript of what occurred during a meeting.
In addition, AI can help to record deadlines and, if programmed to do so, could send out reminders as deadlines approach. With something like NLP (natural language processing) embedded, AI can also know which parts of the meeting are most important, based on vocal tones, and could automatically record and share those parts with attendees, ensuring that none of the actions are forgotten.
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Automated capture of nonverbal cues
We all know those golden moments during a meeting where ideas are born and everyone reacts in a positive way – but they can be hard to identify, particularly if you’re engaging with remote workers on the phone or via video conference.
AI will be able to more easily recognise and record those moments, because they are generally identified by nonverbal cues such as facial expressions, nods, laughter, or peaks in the audio when everyone has that aha moment. A human note taker may not be able to accurately capture this, but AI can.
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Improved overall efficiency prevents meetings from dragging on
Everyone has experienced a meeting that seems to drag on endlessly, or watched co-workers talk in circles. This can happen when people are not paying attention because they’re scribbling on notepads and typing on laptops, bringing up topics that were already discussed. This is what turns meetings into chores instead of the energising moments of team collaboration they are meant to be.
When AI removes the more mundane aspects of a meeting like scheduling or taking attendance, attendees can move through administrative tasks and housekeeping items rapidly, knowing the AI will have it all recorded for later reference, and move into free-flowing exchanges of ideas.
And for those routine meetings that occur frequently and don’t always entail a major brainstorm, AI also facilitates effective and concise meetings, so everyone can get in to the meeting quickly, be productive with the time set out, and then get back into more inspiring work.
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More personal interactions become possible when AI takes care of the mundane
The more that meeting attendees are able to focus on the meeting content itself, the more creative solutions they will bring. By reducing the responsibility that seems to come with a meeting, people can relax, build rapport and create a team that functions better in and out of the meeting room.
Ultimately, AI will improve the way we work with each other. Eliminating the repetitive and easy tasks that come along with the administrative aspects of meetings allows humans to work without constraints.
It is much better, in the long run, to allow AI-powered assistants to take care of necessary but low-value tasks such as note taking, action items, agendas and reminders. Without the burden of worrying about these tasks, employees can bring their A-game to every meeting, increasing the usefulness of meetings tenfold.