5 Reasons to Avoid Using Artificial Intelligence for Meeting Minutes

While artificial intelligence and programs like ChatGPT have made strides in various domains, relying on this technology for tasks like taking meeting minutes in an association or board meeting has many drawbacks.  Minutes are the official record of a given organization or corporation, demanding absolute precision and reliability.  Employing AI for such critical tasks might jeopardize your association, particularly when considering the crucial legal and practical role of these documents.

In our extensive experience at Last Minute Meetings, where we specialize in ensuring accurate and confidential minute-taking, we’ve identified several key reasons why AI falls short in this vital operational aspect.

1) Artificial Intelligence Cannot Testify

As previously mentioned, minutes are official records.  The entity’s secretary bears the fiduciary responsibility to see that the minutes are accurately recorded and to certify acts of the assembly.  Minutes are so important that courts have even examined them to settle organizational disputes.  In scenarios where clarification on meeting actions is required, AI, devoid of the capacity to witness and testify, exposes your association to unnecessary risk due to its inability to provide credible, attestable documentation.

2) AI Cannot Interrupt the Meeting to Gain Clarity

Robert’s Rules of Order gives the Secretary the ability to interrupt the meeting to verify the wording of proposals: “The chair must never admit a motion that the secretary would have to paraphrase for the record.  The chair—either on his own initiative or at the secretary’s request—can require any main motion…to be in writing before he states the question” (§4:18).

This is very important because the assembly needs to be on the same page on what proposal is being voted on.  Artificial intelligence does not have the capability to interrupt the meeting to request the wording of a motion to ensure it is accurately stated and recorded, ensuring accurate records.  Instead, it will rely on summative algorithms which could compromise the preciseness of your official record.”

3) Lack of Context Understanding

While artificial intelligence can summarize an audio file, many models struggle with understanding nuances, sarcasm, or implicit meanings that humans naturally comprehend and might misinterpret decisions made in meetings, as it lacks the ability to gauge the atmosphere or read between the lines.  For example, suppose there is an overwhelming yes vote on an item and the Chair in response says, “I think we know which side won,” instead of following the script and announcing that the motion was adopted.  AI systems could summarize that as “The Chair knows which side won” instead of confirming that the motion was adopteed.

4) Privacy and Confidentiality Concerns

Meetings often involve discussing sensitive or confidential information, which may be at risk if networked AI systems are vulnerable to breaches or unauthorized access.  Humans can be held accountable and penalized for violating executive session or secrecy requirements, but AI systems cannot.  Many AI companies are not forthright with how exactly they use the data fed into it: your private organizational concerns could be used to train the AI and end up in another organization’s minutes!

5) Technical Limitations and Bias

Technical difficulties, like a power failure or software crash, could result in losing important information.  AI models can have inherent biases due to the data on which they were trained, potentially leading to skewed and unfair representations in minutes.  If the AI misinterprets information or makes errors in transcription, crucial details can be misrepresented or omitted.  Further, AI may struggle with accurately transcribing voices in a meeting, particularly in instances of overlapping speech, accents, or low-quality audio.

Conclusion

Despite the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence, the intrinsic value of human discernment, especially in the context of recording accurate, legally valid, and confidential meeting minutes, remains unparalleled.  Leveraging our seasoned expertise at Last Minute Meetings, we provide scrupulous recording secretary services that navigate the nuanced complexities of official documentation, ensuring both reliability and legal compliance.

Avoid the pitfalls and vulnerabilities of AI in managing your critical records and safeguard your organization’s future with our steadfast, expertly managed recording secretary services.  Connect with us today and fortify your meeting minutes with our peerless proficiency and reliability.

Don’t allow this situation to trip you up! If you have any questions, leave a comment below or contact us. LastMinuteMeetings.net also offers consulting services for corporations, associations, and bodies of all sizes.