Otter, the AI-powered assembly assistant that transcribes audio in real-time is including one other layer of AI to its product with at this time’s introduction of Assembly GenAI, a brand new set of AI instruments for conferences. Included with GenAI is an AI chatbot you may question to get details about previous conferences you’ve recorded with Otter, an AI chat function that can be utilized by groups, and an AI dialog abstract that gives an summary of the assembly that befell, so that you don’t need to learn the total transcript to catch up.
Though journalists and college students could use AI to report issues like interviews or lectures, Otter’s new AI options are aimed extra at those that leverage the assembly helper in a company setting. The corporate envisions the brand new instruments as a complement or alternative for the AI options supplied by totally different providers like Microsoft Copilot, Zoom AI Companion, and Google Duet, for instance.
Explains Otter CEO Sam Liang, the thought to introduce the brand new AI instruments was impressed by his personal busy schedule.
“I actually have 30 — sometimes more than 30 — meetings every week. Sometimes I’m even double booked. I couldn’t go to two or three meetings at the same time, but my Otter autopilot would tune into those meetings on my behalf,” he stated, referring to the Otter function that lets an AI bot report a gathering so that you can evaluation later.
Now, customers will have the ability to learn an AI-generated abstract of what was coated in that assembly, together with a paragraph adopted by a listing of motion gadgets. Otter’s clients may also now work together with an AI chatbot the place they’ll ask questions on what befell up to now assembly or others.
Picture Credit: Otter
For instance, you may ask the AI chatbot issues like “What did the CMO say?” or “Did they change the launch date?”
Whereas Liang admits Otter is just not the primary to supply an AI companion for conferences — Microsoft Copilot and Zoom’s AI companion even have the same function — he believes that Otter’s model is extra highly effective and extra complete.
“You can use AI chat to query your entire meeting history,” he explains. Which means you may return to ask questions on prior conferences, not simply the one you’re reviewing.
One other function presents an AI chatbot that joins Otter’s channels the place group chats happen. Right here, the bot interacts like another chat with one other participant and could be invoked by anybody who asks Otter a query. For instance, as customers are chatting with one another, they might pause to ask the AI a query, like, “Hey Otter, what’s our revenue?” The AI chatbot will then reply your query.
The eventual aim is to have Otter extra proactively take part by chiming in when it thinks it has one thing useful to supply, by analyzing what’s being mentioned. Maybe if a colleague didn’t know a solution to a query, Otter might sooner or later reply after trying again via the corporate’s conferences historical past and discovering the reply shared elsewhere.
Picture Credit: Otter
Otter’s knowledge is saved within the cloud and secured, just like different cloud-based providers like Dropbox or Google’s Gmail, however nobody who isn’t approved by the corporate may have entry to the assembly knowledge. This enables individuals to entry Otter, together with its AI options, through any machine, together with their laptop computer or smartphone. Otter additionally isn’t utilizing a buyer’s knowledge to coach its AI, it says, though it permits particular person customers to contribute their recordings through an opt-in foundation.
Notably, the corporate doesn’t plan to cost for its new AI options. Whereas Microsoft fees $360 per yr for its Copilot in Workplace 365 and Groups, Otter’s GenAI will likely be included each within the free plan and the $20 per thirty days Marketing strategy.
