The city has developed FAQs on the use of AI notetakers in city meetings, which is as follows:
What are automated meeting notetakers or AI notetakers?
AI Notetakers, also known as bots, are AI-enabled software that, through "attending" a meeting, can automatically take notes, summarize meetings and assign action items to attendees.
Are AI notetakers currently allowed?
AI notetakers are currently not permitted for general use. The City's Virtual Meeting Policies and Guidance does not allow recording of city-created virtual meetings unless an exception is approved. Most AI notetakers require recording or transcription to be enabled to function. In compliance with current policy and in light of the consideration outlined in this document, ITD has disabled most AI notetakers that staff are aware of from city-hosted virtual Teams meetings.
What are examples of AI notetakers?
- Co-pilot Chat
- Read.ai
- Otter.ai
- MeetGeek.ai
- Bubbles
- Sembly AI
- Fathom
Are there AI notetakers staff can utilize?
The city is currently assessing an AI notetaking feature and evaluating for future use. Except for the notetaking feature currently under consideration, AI notetakers are currently disabled from city-hosted meetings. Exceptions to allow recordings of city-created virtual meetings may be approved in certain scenarios.
What do we do if we are in a meeting initiated by an external party (other agency, vendor, etc.) and they have an AI notetaker enabled?
Where possible, inform the other entity that the City does not currently allow AI notetakers for city business unless an exception has been requested and approved via the City's Virtual Meeting Policies and Guidance. Request they remove the AI notetaker attendee and delete any record that may have occurred up to that point. If it is not possible to remove the AI notetaker, or the external party declines to remove it, staff and the external party should be aware of and comply with the City's Virtual Meeting Policies and Guidance section addressing meetings hosted by third parties.
What do we do if we are hosting a public meeting, and a member of the public has an AI notetaker enabled?
The public has broad rights to record public meetings, whether they are virtual or in-person, so staff should not prohibit a member of the public from using an AI notetaker at such a meeting. Staff can, however, request that an AI notetakers be turned off and can share some of the reasons why they are discouraged at meetings, including:
- they may discourage other attendees from participating and providing important input;
- they may generate inaccurate quotes or extrapolate beyond what was actually said at the meeting, making them potentially unreliable; and
- they cannot interpret non-verbal cues, such as jokes or facial expressions, which could lead to misinterpretation and misunderstandings.
The following is suggested language that staff can use in public meetings:
To help encourage participation, we ask all attendees to please turn off or disable any AI notetakers for the duration of this meeting as they may make people uncomfortable and can produce inaccurate or misleading information.
Staff can also remind attendees that there are accessibility features that can be used on Teams and Zoom such as live captioning. All notices about public meetings should already include information about the process to request a modification or interpreter in advance of the meeting.
What do we do if we are hosting a Teams meeting that is not open to the public and we notice an AI notetaker enabled?
If the meeting is from an @bellevuewa.gov account, first inquire if this instance was approved through an exception request.
If the answer is yes, then the meeting may resume as intended.
If the answer is no, then please remove the AI notetaker "attendee" from the meeting.
The following language will also be automatically added to city-initiated Teams meeting invites:
In compliance with City of Bellevue policies, the use of AI bots or automated virtual assistants during Microsoft Teams meetings is prohibited for non-public meetings unless an exception has been approved. Please ensure that any AI bots are removed.
What are scenarios where the presence of AI notetakers create significant risks and where an exception would likely not approved?
Due to concerns around security, the deliberate process, sensitive topics, public disclosure and perception, the following are types of meetings where AI notetakers create significant risks and it is very unlikely an exception to enable them would be approved.
Why is there hesitation in using AI notetakers?
The following are some points that need to be considered before AI notetakers are approved and enabled to decrease the potential risk.
- Data Privacy and Security: Depending on the AI notetaker used, it is often unclear where the captured data is stored, who has access to it, or how it would be handled in the event of a data breach. Some AI notetakers inherit the permissions of the user who enables them. These applications may also request access to users’ calendars, contacts or cloud storage (e.g., Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.). This can unintentionally give the tool access to citywide or enterprise-wide data, which presents a significant risk of unauthorized exposure. If users grant these permissions, sensitive information could be exposed or become publicly accessible.
- Deliberative process: AI notetaker summaries and notes from working meetings brainstorming sessions or meetings where ideas and options are discussed or generated would be public records. When released to the public in response to records requests, they could be taken out of context and lead to situations where the resulting message is inaccurate or unmanaged. In addition, in some situations, the deliberative process is more protected and care should be taken when creating additional records to review before release. Lastly, if there is no clearly defined and documented process to agree upon the summary or action items generated by AI notetakers, there can be discordant understanding of who is responsible for certain tasks and could also be taken out of context in the future.
- Sensitive topics: AI notetaker summaries or notes may include sensitive or confidential information discussed at meetings such as information that would reveal attorney-client communications or attorney work product, contain private health information or reflect performance coaching between a supervisor and employee. This creates a record with sensitive information that could become accessible to others outside the organization and in most situations, results in greater risk than benefit.
- Record Management: Depending on who owns the AI notetaker, and what the AI notetaker is, there are questions regarding where the record is retained, how long it is retained and who has access to it. This leads to unmanaged content and potential issues in litigation, records requests and complying with retention requirements.
- Public Disclosure: If a record is created, it needs to be managed and then produced, if it is responsive and exists at the time of the request. Depending on the volume and frequency of AI notetakers utilized, this could exponentially increase the number of items potentially responsive to public record requests, increasing the processing time to review, and increasing the risk of either failing to release responsive records or releasing information that is harmful to the process or the city, both of which create significant risks.
- Perception: In some situations, meeting attendees present may not be as candid or open as they could or should be without AI notetakers engaged. This reduces the effectiveness of the meeting, and arguably the value to the meeting and ultimately the public.