Using ChatGPT for Meeting Minutes: A Better Alternative
See how teams use AI to take meeting minutes and why you should consider Fellow as a better alternative for your meeting minutes.
If you’ve been keeping up with the latest tech trends, you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT. Since late fall 2022, the tool has taken the world by storm. ChatGPT had more than 100 million users within the first two months of launch and has had more than 13 million daily visitors since January 2023.
You may be wondering how tools like ChatGPT can improve business efficiencies. While experts are still determining the tool’s long-term effects, there are a few key ways companies can use AI to enhance the employee and customer experience.
Read on to learn about ChatGPT, see the pros and cons of using AI for your meeting minutes, and discover why Fellow is a better alternative than AI for your meeting minutes and action items.
- What is ChatGPT?
- What are AI meeting minutes?
- The pros and cons of using AI for meeting minutes
- What should be included in your meeting minutes?
- How to use ChatGPT for meeting minutes
- A better ChatGPT alternative
- Free meeting minutes templates
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI. The tool features a powerful natural language processor famous for its ability to generate human-like responses. ChatGPT has a variety of applications but is commonly used for answering questions and completing tasks like writing code, emails, and essays.
While the tool can quickly generate high-quality responses to many questions and requests, it isn’t yet considered a reliable search engine as it may make errors and deliver inaccurate information to users. Additionally, some experts have said that the tool’s output isn’t yet a trustworthy source for business or academic research.
What are AI meeting minutes?
AI meeting minutes are notes taken during a meeting that rely on AI or natural language processing tools such as ChatGPT.
To create AI meeting minutes, transcripts from meeting tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams are downloaded after a virtual meeting ends and placed in the AI tool. The user then asks the tool to generate a summary of the transcript that outlines key messages, action items, and other important takeaways from the meeting. With the right prompts, AI can extract important information and insights that you and your team can use to guide business decisions.
Take detailed meeting minutes
Create official records of the discussions and action items generated during meetings and save time with Fellow’s meeting minutes templates. Fellow is the meeting minutes software your team will love.
The pros and cons of using AI for meeting minutes
Pros
- Allows for faster processes: AI meeting minutes can be a convenient alternative to taking minutes manually. When you provide ChatGPT with enough meeting details, it can quickly summarize key meeting points, follow-up topics, and action items. It works well for teams that aren’t too concerned about details and accuracy looking for quick minutes. The algorithm’s response time can be anywhere from two seconds to two minutes or more, making it great for last-minute, high-level meeting summaries.
- Is cost-efficient: ChatGPT is currently a free tool, making it a cost-effective alternative to other meeting-minute software. Startups operating on a tight budget can take advantage of the free tool and use funds they would have allocated to software for other necessary resources. It’s important to note that this may not always be the case. OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman warned users that the company will have to monetize ChatGPT at some point.
- Is multilingual: Teammates who work in different languages can benefit significantly from ChatGPT’s translation capabilities. The next time you need to send a copy of your meeting minutes to a colleague in a new language, ask ChatGPT to translate it for you.
Cons
- Increases risk for mistakes: As innovative as it is, ChatGPT can’t read your mind. It isn’t a perfect product, and using it to create your meeting minutes does increase the risk of errors. A topic that may have been of great importance in your virtual meeting may not be prioritized by ChatGPT’s algorithm and could be left out of your meeting minutes entirely, making them less accurate overall.
- Is not collaborative: Creating meeting minutes with ChatGPT may be a time-saver, but using AI to automate this process means less collaboration from the team. With AI-generated meeting minutes, individual teammates aren’t able to add their key takeaways, action items, and other important details.
- Lacks context: Important conversations happen before meetings, too. When you use AI to generate your meeting minutes, key information may be left out. Without human-inputted context, it may be challenging to draw assumptions from the minutes.
- Has privacy concerns: AI meeting minutes aren’t a good idea for teams and individuals who use meetings to discuss private matters such as employee performance or company finances. Some companies are being asked not to enter sensitive information into the chatbot due to compliance concerns with third-party software. The tool was also recently banned by the Italian data-protection authority due to privacy concerns.
What should be included in your meeting minutes?
- Date and time: Include details about when the meeting took place for future reference. If necessary, add context about why the meeting was held on a certain day or at a specific time. Use timestamps to tag individual colleagues for their awareness or input.
- Name of present and absent attendees: List the names of all members in attendance and the names of those who weren’t able to make it. During the meeting, jot down who spoke about specific topics and include the names of those who have been assigned action items. If you’re using Fellow, the date and names of meeting participants will be automatically recorded in your meeting agenda.
- Summary of talking points: Your meeting agenda should be used as an outline for your meeting minutes. Under each talking point in the agenda, add details, including any outcomes and major decisions the group makes.
- Key decisions and action items: Record decisions and action items as they happen. This will enable the team to hold each other accountable for their responsibilities and support one another in working through tasks that contribute to the group’s overall success. With Fellow’s tags, you can highlight key items, organize content, and find what you are looking for.
- Next steps: Write down what tangible next steps the group needs to take to carry out the decisions made during the meeting. The next steps can include scheduling a follow-up meeting or check-in call and emailing a copy of the meeting minutes once they’re ready for distribution.
How to use ChatGPT for meeting minutes
Once your meeting ends, access meeting transcripts from Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet. If you aren’t using virtual meeting software with automated transcription, you’ll have to transcribe meeting videos into text scripts manually. Once the transcription is prepped, copy and paste your text scripts into ChatGPT. Above the text script, tell the AI what you want it to do. In this case, you’ll want to write something like: “Summarize the below meeting transcription into meeting minutes and outline a list of key takeaways and action items.” Now you can sit back and relax as your meeting minutes generate.
A better ChatGPT alternative for recording meeting minutes and action items
- Take collaborative meeting minutes
- Keep an accurate record of decisions
- Link meeting minutes to calendar events
- Share minutes with stakeholders
1Take collaborative meeting minutes
Now that you know all about ChatGPT and how to use it, let’s talk about a better alternative for taking meeting minutes: Fellow. With our tool, you and your team can create an official record of discussions and action items that are free from mistakes, secure, collaborative, and have plenty of the necessary context needed to make decisions. Everyone can contribute their ideas to the meeting agenda before, during, and after each meeting, too!
Plus, with Fellow’s AI-powered suggested talking points and AI-generated agendas, you can ensure that all your meetings are prepared, organized, and productive.
2Keep an accurate record of decisions
Meeting minutes are linked to calendar events in Fellow, so you’ll always have an easy time accessing previous minutes. Our pre-built meeting minutes template will help you stay organized so you can spend less time preparing and more time making decisions as a team.
With Fellow, you can also lock your notes to prevent edits so you have an accurate record of what was discussed and decided during each meeting. Our Locked Notes feature also helps keep sensitive information private from everyone who wasn’t in attendance.
3Link meeting minutes to calendar events
Spend less time searching for your meeting agenda and more time running an effective meeting. With Fellow’s browser extensions, you can access your meeting notes directly in your meeting tool of choice and document action items without ever having to leave your call.
4Share minutes with stakeholders
Share meeting notes with attendees after the meeting to keep everyone on the same page. Meeting participants can access past meeting minutes through their calendar events and give meeting feedback at the end of each call, too!
Free meeting minutes templates
Parting advice
Meeting minutes provide an important record of what was discussed and decided during a meeting. That said, your meeting minutes should always be detailed, accurate, and collaborative.
The fastest option isn’t always the best option. While ChatGPT can give you meeting minutes quickly and cost-effectively, alternatives like Fellow will help you make better decisions in the long run. Don’t believe us? Begin hosting meaningful one-on-ones, recording important decisions, and building collaborative agendas with Fellow today.
