AI Companion Sends Woman a Detailed Summary of Everything She Said During a Work Meeting

On Sept. 5, 2023, Zoom announced the arrival of its very own AI assistant, AI Companion (formerly known as Zoom IQ). The company claimed this innovation would boost individual productivity and team collaboration, but is it really worth it if the AI feature tracks everything you say?

In September 2023, TikTok creator Margot (@margaschino) posted a video and revealed that Zoom's AI Companion sent her an email with a detailed summary of everything she and her co-worker said during a work meeting.

Read on for more details. Plus, stick around to hear what the internet had to say about this.

In the video, Margot showed the strange email she received from Zoom after a meeting she and her sister (who works for the same company) attended. The email contained a detailed summary of their chat, including remarks about their casual work attire, new assignments, and even their conversation about Game of Thrones.

"So my sister and I both work from home for the same company, and we just had a Zoom meeting," she said. "And for the first time, I got this email in my inbox after the meeting. It says, 'Meeting summary with AI companion.' And it has a summary of everything that we talked about."

Margot flipped the camera around to show the email, which had several sections ranging from "Work Attire and New Assignment," "Dog, Work, and Tech Struggles," and "Fans Discuss Game of Thrones Scenes."

"So right when we logged on, my sister's like, 'Oh, I love your sweater,' and I was like, 'Thank you,'" she recalled before pointing at the segment in the email that outlined that part of their conversation. It reads, "Katia expressed admiration for Margot's sweater, and the two compared their current work locations."

The creepy email also summarized Margot and her sister's conversation about Game of Thrones, stating that they had a "lively discussion" about the TV show and shared their thoughts on "specific scenes and character interactions, such as the army of White Walkers, the Redhead's dramatic tendencies, and the Giant's first appearance."

"It literally tracked everything that we said," Margot added. "I don't know how I feel about this."

The clip, which was posted on Sept. 27, has been viewed more than 2 million times and counting.

"This feels illegal," one user said, while a second person shared that they were "deleting Zoom immediately."

A third user wrote, "I would never speak again in a meeting."

"That's scary but impressive," another TikToker added.

Someone else commented, "This feels like a really useful tool WHEN participants are given full disclosure."

"I know exactly how I feel about this and it's not good," one user penned.

Another person joked, "My therapy sessions on Zoom are gonna be lit."

Needless to say, the reactions have been mixed.

"My company banned Zoom globally because of this feature," a TikTok user claimed. "Zoom had access to share this information now with third-party companies."

Another person pointed out, "Zoom is legally allowed to use your words and meetings in any way shape or form they want after the fact. It's actually really insane."

Distractify reached out to Zoom, and a representative provided the following context:

• "As outlined on the Meeting Summary support page here, meeting participants 'see a notification when the meeting summary has started.'"
• "As outlined on the AI Companion page here, the Meeting Summary feature (like all of Zoom’s AI companion features) is turned off by default and has to be manually turned on."