Using AI to handle meeting notes
From recording to action list, without losing the thread or trusting the notes blindly.
Jamie Owen Updated 14 Jun 2026
One of the most reliable everyday wins from AI is turning a messy meeting into a short, useful record: a summary, plus the decisions and who agreed to do what. The tools are good at this because compress-and-restructure is exactly the kind of work they excel at.
A simple workflow
- Capture the meeting, either as a transcript from your meeting tool or as the notes you typed.
- Ask for structure, not just a summary: “Give me a 5-line summary, then a bullet list of decisions, then a table of action items with an owner and a due date.”
- Skim the result against your memory. You were there. A two-minute read catches anything misattributed or invented before it spreads.
Two cautions
Recording or transcribing a meeting affects everyone in it. Say you’re doing it, and keep confidential discussions out of tools that aren’t sanctioned; that is the shadow-AI trap.
And tell people when the notes are AI-made. It sets the expectation that they should be checked. More on that in disclosing AI use.
The model writes the first draft of the notes. You stay the editor of record.