In recent times, artificial intelligence (AI) has solidified itself into all industries. From assisting medical staff with treatment plans in healthcare to handling quality control in manufacturing, its advantages are striking.
But what we often don’t think about is the oversight required to benefit from its capabilities. Is AI a helper or a hindrance? What are the guidelines for risk management? How will this impact efficiency? These questions are asked at the governance level.
A board’s control over strategy, risk, oversight and accountability impacts everyone in the company and its customers. That’s why having good governance is so important and moving towards better governance can begin with fine-tuning the minutes process.
The importance of meeting minutes
Minutes are official documents that describe the events of a meeting. They contain:
- Which attendees and directors were present
- The key topics and proposals
- The board’s decisions and votes
- The next objectives and action items
Here are 3 reasons why minutes benefit your company:
- Clear and simple summaries allow the attendees to have a shared understanding of details and decisions.
- They serve as references for determining the company’s future direction.
- The documentation of delegated tasks helps with tracking progress and accountability.
But minutes aren’t just important for your company, they’re mandatory. The Companies Act 2006, requires UK registered companies to record minutes of all director and member proceedings. The minutes must also be kept for at least 10 years from the meeting’s date.
How AI improves meeting minutes
Looking back at history, it’s believed that the word ‘minutes’ stems from the Latin minuta scriptura which means ‘small writing.’ This practice has evolved over thousands of years in terms of what materials or techniques were used. We’ve come a long way from perfecting penmanship to choosing from a multitude of digital fonts. Now, AI has made it possible to transcribe recorded audios or speech in real time.
How automated minutes support efficiency
- Speed and accessibility: AI can transcribe significantly faster than a human which means that searchable minutes can be created almost instantly.
- Full participation: The minute taker can be more present as they have a secondary source of information.
- Reduced administrative load: The minute taker can use AI to format the record instead of doing it manually.
- Supports progress: Automated action items can be created in seconds based on the discussion.
- Transparency: AI attempts to document all speech, so no details are omitted.
- Objectivity: Automated minutes are written with neutrality and don’t have the same biases that humans have.
Now that we’ve covered the advantages of automated minutes, it’s important identify the potential risks.
Automated minutes and its risks
Security
Your AI provider may store your company’s data on a third-party cloud server. That means confidential information about finance, business strategy, trade secrets and other sensitive information are vulnerable if there are issues with their security. Before choosing which AI tool to implement, research whether they comply with the same GDPR as your company.
Wi-fi dependent
The ability to use AI transcription tools can be dependent on internet access; connectivity issues can hinder the minute-taking process.
Inaccuracies
The quality of automated minutes can be affected by mics, a person’s accent, how loud or quiet a speaker is or if multiple people are speaking at once. These can all affect the word error rate and cause frustration when the transcript is reviewed.
Poor discernment
AI lacks the ability to understand context, tone, industry-specific terms, intent and can struggle with identifying speakers. It’s important to remember that people can exercise good judgement.
Admissible in court
Some comments within a board meeting may be considered off the record. However, AI attempts to transcribe all dialogue and sections might be taken out of context if they were to be scrutinised in the future. Depending on your company’s policies, the meeting organiser can delete the transcripts after a certain period of time.
Stops open dialogue
AI doesn’t account for intent. Attendees may be hesitant to share their thoughts as their words may be misunderstood or taken out of context, especially when these records are stored for a decade.
The more severe risks can be mitigated if the correct risk management strategies are in place.
The role of human oversight
Minutes aren’t just transcripts of what was said during a meeting. They’re structured documents of relevant information. As noted, AI minutes tools lack the ability to recognise body language, context, tone and industry jargon. This means that it’s always a good idea to have human input so that they can be amended for context and inaccuracies. The goal should be to provide your company with a precise record of the decision-making process.
In terms of security, it’s important to think about a lot of issues. Do you know where your AI vendor stores your data? Are they under the same data protection laws that your company must follow? Will they use your data for training? Making sure that intellectual property is handled correctly works towards maintaining the company’s health.
Though it can be argued that AI minutes create transparency, it also seems to have the opposite effect. If participants decide to self-censor, how will that affect the quality of your board’s discussions?
Key takeaways
In short, AI offers major benefits, but the role of human intelligence shouldn’t be overlooked. Your position in the governance space urges you to analyse and pre-empt the overall risk of automated minute taking in your board meetings. After identifying them, forming a risk management plan is the way to go.
Remember, you don’t have to choose between humans and AI. Instead, think of AI as a tool to be used with human oversight.
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