Picture a Monday at 9:00. A meeting with an important client begins and, two minutes in, a strange name appears in the participant list: "Laura's notes assistant". Nobody invited it explicitly. The client asks who it is, you explain it takes notes, and the conversation starts with an apology instead of with what you came to discuss.
What happens when a bot joins the call
- External guests do not know who it is or what it does with what it hears. Asking is uncomfortable for them, and staying silent is worse.
- It is not always clear who gave permission: the host who turned the tool on is not the rest of the participants.
- What is recorded lives in the account of whoever turned it on, not in a company place.
It is not an isolated feeling
In February 2025 Bloomberg published an article headlined "Please Stop Inviting AI Notetakers to Meetings". In August 2025 a class action was filed against Otter.ai alleging, according to the press we cite, that its assistant recorded private conversations without the consent of all participants. Those are allegations, not rulings, and we have not followed the case since. What is verifiable is that almost all note assistants work by putting a bot in the call.
What it takes to solve it
- Recording should not depend on a third party joining the call, but on the room where the meeting happens.
- Each guest should see, before entering, that it is recorded and why.
- It should be possible to really pause (capturing nothing during the pause) and, if the organisation wants it, resuming should require everyone's agreement.
- What is recorded should sit in the organisation, under its brand, and not in someone's personal account.
How each option on the market solves it
- Fireflies, Otter and Read.ai: a bot (and, depending on the case, an extension or app) joins the call; that is how they work.
- Fathom: a bot, although it announces a beta without one.
- Granola: no bot; it captures audio from one person's device, so the notice to everyone else depends on whoever uses it.
- VideoSuite: no bot; the room itself records, with a visible notice before entering.
A note of caution: this is not legal advice. Consent, legal basis and retention periods for what is recorded are your obligations and are worth reflecting in your privacy policy.