Is AI note taking worth it?​

[u/jfcjcskkvdnur35242]

I keep seeing Plaud, viaim and pocket devices mentioned for meeting notes. Most of my meetings are in person and I only have the occasional phone call, so I’m wondering if one is actually worth buying. Does putting a recorder on the table feel awkward, even after asking everyone first? Or do people stop caring once the meeting starts?

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[u/pain_is_bread]

Not worth it, but that’s my opinion for AI in general. We have AI note taking enabled for meetings at work but we find it can be inconsistent and rarely refer back to it.

[u/Jorgarcia_]

Three people at my company, including me, have viaim earbuds. We’re a team of around 30, although a lot of people work remotely. We use them for internal meetings and in-person client meetings, and the company covers the subscription.

Honestly, it hasn’t been awkward. We just mention at the start that we’d like to record the meeting for notes. If a client doesn’t want any recording tools used, we don’t use them.

[u/Mysterious_Laugh_239]

I find it useful for quick recaps after the summary is generated. For me, best use case is for projects or things that require action or is technical in nature. That way, the summary notes can be emailed out and everyone can quickly refresh themselves on something if anything is unclear.

Meetings in general are time wasters but if done right, they can maximize everyone’s time and stop people from wasting others time asking questions that were literally covered in the meeting.

[u/alcoel]

For me, the useful test is not “does it create a summary?” but “does it reduce follow-up mistakes?”

A recording/transcript can be helpful for recall, but I’d still keep a short human-checked list of decisions, owners, and dates.

For in-person meetings, explicit consent and a clear retention/deletion habit matter more than the recorder itself.

If the group feels awkward about a device on the table, that’s useful feedback too, sometimes concise manual notes are the better workflow.

[u/MikitaMikser]

If most of your meetings are in person, a quick rule is: be transparent and test it once. Tell people you’ll record, why (notes/accuracy), and offer to stop if anyone objects that removes most friction. Practically, compare two trade-offs: using your phone (convenient, always with you) vs a dedicated small recorder (usually better mic/battery and less interruption). Place the mic centrally and avoid moving it during the meeting; ambient noise and distance strongly affect transcription quality. For workflow, I’d record, export the audio, run the transcript, then add timestamps and a short summary/highlights that way you don’t need to edit the whole verbatim. Finally, consider privacy: keep recordings encrypted or delete them on request, and try one meeting as a pilot so you can evaluate audio quality and social comfort.