Recently, companies are seeing new features that add AI-powered feedback to familiar tools. On Zoom there’s an “AI companion,” helping you catch up when you arrive late to a meeting, and on Teams, “Copilot” will help you summarize key discussion points. These applications can be integrated into work so seamlessly users begin to use them almost without realizing. While they offer productivity and feedback benefits, there are also downsides to these tools joining our conversations. If people outsource their listening wholesale to the technology, skipping the work of thinking through for themselves the key messages, then meetings may be efficient, but understanding and commitment to act might well be lacking. Leaders need to consider the impact on power and status, what we count as knowledge, and be sure to take the time to learn about how these features work before using them.
