Google Meet AI note-taking expands to in-person meetings with Gemini-powered transcription

Google Meet's AI Note-Taking Feature Now Works for In-Person Meetings

Gemini can now summarize and transcribe 'impromptu and casual' meetings, not just those from a Google Meet video chat, Google says, though there are a few limitations at launch. Google Meet is expanding its Gemini-powered note-taking feature to support in-person meetings. The "Take Notes" option summarizes key points, creates a transcript, and saves a document in a Google Drive folder shortly after a meeting ends. Until now, it has only worked for video calls on Google Meet. However, a new support page says that you can now use it for "impromptu and casual meetings that are in person. You don't need to be in a meeting room to use this feature." Just tap the Take Notes button as usual, and place the recording device closer to the people involved. Gemini will document the meeting and save a file in Drive. The feature is currently Android-only, but support for iPhone, iPad, and the web will arrive soon, Google says. For now, it is limited to subscribers of Google Workspace's Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus plans. Since it's still part of Google's alpha program, your organization's admin has to enable it for your account. Take Notes in Google Meet supports English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish, but it captures words in only one language at a time. Google is also making Gemini's note-taking ability available for Teams and Zoom meetings, 9to5Google reports. It recently added support for Meet on Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as well, so you can attend scheduled meetings without having to take eyes off the road.

Google Meet Can Now Take Notes During In-Person Meetings Too

You can also conference in someone via a Google Meet call and continue taking notes. Google Meet's "Take Notes for me" feature is one particularly useful implementation of AI. When you're on a video call, Gemini can dictate what's being said, offering summaries and highlights of the conversation. That way, your attention doesn't need to be split between the conversation at hand and writing down notes to remember key points later: You can just check the notes that are automatically generated as a Google Doc once the meeting is over. It's the kind of feature that sells me more on the whole "AI assistant" thing, rather than something trying to order me a coffee. Of course, video conferencing isn't the only time dictation can be useful. An in-person meeting can benefit from the same perks as a virtual one: Why bother with scribbling down notes on paper or typing away on a laptop when your phone can transcribe the chat on your behalf? I've started using the Voice Memos app on my iPhone for the task, for example, since it's easy to record both audio and an automatic transcription of the conversation. If you're a regular Google Meet user, however, you now have a similar option in your app of choice: Meet's Take Notes for me feature now supports live, in-person meetings as well. As noted by 9to5Google, here's how it works: You open the Google Meet site or app on your device, but rather than start a call, you can use the new "Take Notes for me" option to task Gemini with transcribing and summarizing your discussion. You can hit "Pause" at any time to pause dictation, and "Stop" followed by "Stop taking notes" to end it altogether. You can also transition to a video call if you want to conference in someone who isn't in the same room as you. And, just as with a Google Meet call, Take Notes for me will automatically save the meeting notes in a Google Doc. This feature started as an Alpha-only option but is now rolling out to more Workspace plans. Your admin may need to activate it on their end, but following that, you should be able to start recording your own conversations. This feature won't appear for any Google account not tied to a Workspace plan. Of course, there are plenty of alternatives out there if you don't have "Take Notes for me" available to you in Google Meet. It won't be a perfect match, since Google Meet integrates with your Google account and does more than just transcribe the call, but there are other options worth considering. As I mentioned, I really like using Apple's built-in tools: Voice Memos can generate automatic transcriptions, which you can save to Apple Notes. But if you don't have an Apple device or you prefer another option, PCMag has a series of recommendations, including Otter.ai, GoTranscript, and Rev.