I recently hosted a virtual global call for Transformation Executive leaders.
One of the participants, Rachel was unable to join the call, so she politely declined and sent her apologies.
At the start of the call which was attended by 20 other participants, I noticed that ‘Rachel’s Bot’ joined the call. This Bot was powered by a newly emerging AI software tool.
As anticipated, ‘Rachel’s Bot’ was unresponsive to voice when I called out to it, but then via the chat functionality available in the call, immediately started to transcribe the conversation and took actions from the call.
After a few more minutes, it was clear that the transcription was not a true reflection of the conversation. I promptly removed ‘Rachel’s Bot’ from the conversation because it was firstly a distraction, but also that the other participants had not agreed to a Bot attending to listen and transcribe the meeting.
I then contacted Rachel to inform her that she had sent her Bot to the meeting. She was not aware that she had performed this and had forgotten to remove the software after trialing it.
I am interested to know your thoughts. In the future, as the functionality of AI progresses, would you be comfortable if a colleague sends a Bot on their behalf if they are unable to make the meeting? Would you send a Bot to a meeting on your behalf? Is it ethical? Saving Changes...
Well... Imagine the meeting only between bots :). No - I would not send the bot instead of me. I think it is not appropriate to send a bot and this is also about the respect for other participants of the meeting. We need to have clear boundaries and our savour-vivre has to be updated. Saving Changes...
Although OneNote for Office 365 will already transcribe conversations and even translate them into different languages, the use of that type of AI poses many issues.
For one, the inaccuracy of the notes can lead to issues by itself. That can also apply to translating into other languages as it is not a word for word translation. Secondly, people may not want to speak openly if they are being recorded which degrades the effectiveness of the meeting.
Perhaps most importantly, recording a conversation where you are not present runs afoul of wiretapping and eavesdropping laws in the US. Although I don't think the laws have adapted to AI, using that bot could constitute a felony (greater than 1 year prison term).
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1 reply by Pierre Le Manh
Sep 23, 2023 10:32 AM
Pierre Le Manh
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Yesterday I was invited to speak at an AI masterclass and at one point a bot introduced itself in the chat, said it was a bot representing someone, that it would summarize the conversation and offered a link available to all of us if we were interested to use the summary for ourselves. It didn’t seem to bother anyone. I was too busy speaking so I didn’t click on the link and I actually wish I had. I think we will simply all get used to it and ignore the bots that are tracking everything we do.
Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Interesting experience, Lissa.
The questions that come to my mind are:
1. can we, can Rachel, trust the bot (taking actions that do not hurt us, representing Rachel's opinion, etc) - my answer is no, trust requires ethical behaviours 2. maybe at some point, bots may become agents of humans, many service call bots already are, but in a business meeting this might be difficult today 3. legally can bots make decisions for us, or even prelminary decisions that have to be approved by the human later 4. we need to ensure the bot knows what he (she?) can/must say, like with a personal assistant or deputy (powers reserved)
To your questions: yes to all. - would I be comfortable with a bot in the call? yes - would I send a bot? yes, if disclosed in advance and nobody objects - is it ethical to send a bot? yes, if done with respect, honesty (bot disclosed, in advance), accountability (I stand in for any damage done by my bot) and fairness (everybody else can send a bot too) Saving Changes...
I am also concerned about the security issues: who is the owner of a bot, where the data from that meeting are transferred and does the meeting covers any internal or sensitive information. What would happen if the discussion gone public? I'd prefer to not have such bots on my meetings... Saving Changes...
Senior Projects Manager | Field & Marten AssociatesNew Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Personally, I wouldn’t be comfortable if someone sends their bot to attend the meeting on their behalf, nor would I do this. It’s called a Team Meeting, not bot meeting which means two way human to human conversation. Saving Changes...
Also, another thing came to me: if the discussion on the meeting can be performed by bots - then maybe it's better idea to cancel the meeting and talk via chat or email or any other form of communication.
Meetings are about human to human communication. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Hmm,
feeling uncomfortable may be a sign of upcoming change.
When emails came up in the 1990s, many resisted. Even in mid-2000s some executives asked their PAs to print each email.
Meetings have a variety of reasons and format, they are generally about communication, exchange of information, highlighting issues, asking for help etc. If bots are enabled and empowered they could help making meetings more effective. At least they can reduce emotions and conflicts and level hierarchies.
Information security is an issue and can be implemented by setting and enforcing rules, that can be better followed by bots than humans (humans are the greatest risk for cybersecurity).
Last year, PMI HQ piloted the use of a meeting minutes AI, sembly.ai, not sure about the results.
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1 reply by Pierre Le Manh
Aug 29, 2023 3:25 PM
Pierre Le Manh
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we do use it - now the question is: who ever reads meetings minutes?
This is a question of what is permitted according to the team's way of working. So long as the team supports use of bots as proxies and the limits of authority on bot participation is pre-defined that should be fine.
It would be interesting to know what purpose the bot would serve assuming it has not sufficient intelligence to actively participate in discussions and/or vote? Most mainstream online meeting tools already provide recording and transcription capabilities so what more should we expect?
Aside from discussing the fact that a bot showed up to replace a human person in a meeting, the main and most important issue is that this bot showed up without the person being aware of it.
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1 reply by Joey Perugino
Sep 23, 2023 6:16 AM
Joey Perugino
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I agree with you Veronica, that is the part that I would have preoccupying.
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