Last night at a restaurant, I overheard a conversation. A man was discussing how the junior female engineers on his team often end up taking notes during company brainstorming sessions. His female companion suggested assigning this task among male team members. But the conversation highlighted a missed opportunity for using AI transcription tools, such as Otter.ai, Wudpecker or Fathom, which can revolutionize meeting dynamics by eliminating the need for manual note-taking altogether, overcoming hurtful gender dynamics and fostering a more inclusive and productive environment.
Despite the fact that we spend so much of our time in meetings, we know too little about how to run them well, a point Sir Geoff Mulgan has made thoughtfully in his excellent book on collective intelligence Big Mind. AI transcription tools offer far-reaching potential to transform meetings and professional practices across an array of industries. In a recent training I did for government lawyers, I could feel the room collectively “perk up” when I demonstrated AI transcription. The ability to upload an audio file of a deposition, phone call, or hearing and have the tool transcribe, summarize and extract learnings from a lengthy audio recording could potentially save them untold hours of time. My students, too, like to record their classes, upload the file, and use these tools to help them study.
Parliaments around the world are turning to AI transcription to create real-time records of floor debate. In India, the parliament’s Digital Sansad software takes advantage of AI to provide members and the public with real-time transcription but also translation, capturing word-for-word what is said in parliament and translating into one of India's twenty-two regional languages and dialects.
However, these tools are more than just a faster stenographer. I love the fact that AI transcription shines a light on conversational dynamics by calculating how much time each person speaks during a meeting, paving the way for improved social relations, better behavior and more equitable conversations.
The ability for AI transcription to lay bare how we talk to one another can help us to democratize formal as well as informal conversational interactions. Law professor Tonja Jacobi and her colleagues studied patterns of interruptions at the Supreme Court by reviewing hearing transcripts, revealing how often male justices interrupted female ones: a lot.
Their research led to a rule change in 2021, whereby justices now ask questions in order of seniority. (As a by-product of the research, now Justice Clarence Thomas participates more often.)The law professors had to hand code their data.
But AI now makes light work of such conversational pattern analysis, revealing biases and bad behavior and, when used well, creating incentives for better communications. The self-reflection enabled by AI has the potential to revolutionize all forms of group deliberation from parliaments to town halls to boardrooms with AI serving as a mirror to our conversations and group interactions.
The adoption of AI transcription technologies represents more than just an upgrade to our professional toolkits; it could offer a pivotal shift towards inclusivity and equity in every conversation we have. By democratizing participation in meetings and ensuring every voice is heard—and accurately captured—these technologies could help us to overcome entrenched biases and foster richer, more productive dialogues. This is especially important in deliberative dialogues, whether at the national or local level, where we need diverse people and perspectives to have an equal opportunity of being heard. Leaders, educators, and policymakers need to explore the integration of AI transcription tools not only to enhance efficiency but to pave the way for deliberations where all contributions are valued.
