Zoom the Popular Virtual Meeting Platform During the Pandemic Introduces AI Companion as its New Product
Zoom video conferencing has become an indispensable tool during the outbreak of the pandemic. In 2020, its stock price soared to $559, only to plummet to $58, similar to a roller coaster ride.
The newly launched AI Companion feature includes functions such as AI assistants that automatically generate email drafts, suggest message replies, summarize meeting records, track project items, and group chat broadcasting, which claims to increase work efficiency for colleagues.
ASK AI Companion allows users to interact with AI assistants through the existing Zoom platform, helping to organize trivial work details and daily communication.
Zoom’s AI assistant feature allows users to collect and organize information and meeting records from various groups. The official website also introduces real-time multilingual translation and instant subtitles as part of the new AI platform, which can create projects to organize and store calendars, meeting schedules, and key summaries.
AI Companion is similar to a virtual partner in a studio or an executive secretary in a company. It can schedule meeting dates, record and store meeting records, and manage client and work team project items. The application scenarios are similar to the ChatGPT function, which uses machine learning to write and communicate daily messages with teams, and also includes appointment scheduling functions similar to Google Meet and Agile. In addition to administrative assistant functions, AI Companion also has AI-generated image functions that can instantly produce images for presentations.
Zoom’s transformation from a virtual video conferencing platform to an AI intelligent work platform is extremely lethal to Google Meet, Slack, and Go To Meeting. AI Companion appears to have a very clean interface and more features than the aforementioned apps.
Zoom has a free version and an enterprise version, and both versions have default terms that allow users to agree to provide data to Zoom for machine learning purposes. By using Zoom, users implicitly agree to provide facial images, audio files, text conversations, and other records to Zoom free of charge. AI Companion is currently “free to use” and seems to undergo a period of testing.
Considering the concerns about possible privacy infringements by Zoom in the past, Zoom is taking preventive measures against potential personal information leaks and data security concerns caused by AI Companion.
According to Zoom’s official disclaimer, Zoom positions AI assistants as communication tools for internal and external purposes of enterprises, with human resources and marketing department colleagues as the primary target audience. The former needs to assess employee performance, while the latter often needs to brainstorm various creative plans.
AI Companion utilizes machine learning and algorithms to examine issues in work items. The AI assistant serves as a tool for due diligence and real-time interpreter, enabling instant translation of different languages in different regions. Using AI Companion is a good governance solution for the increasing trend of remote work across borders, as employees can work remotely without entering the office while human resources can still monitor their work, effectively deterring lazy employees.
AI
Zoom
Further reading:
Tech giants like Nvidia submit AI risk reports to SEC to avoid litigation
Meta recruits AI personnel to enhance cross-platform immersive experience, including investments in the metaverse.
