AI in virtual meetings: helping us or quietly adding to disengagement?
For many of us, the AI assistants in our virtual meeting software have been transformative. I’ve always struggled to take notes while keeping up with discussions, so when Zoom and Teams introduced transcripts, everything changed. I could finally revisit what was said, check actions whilst also staying aligned during the meeting without scrambling to capture every detail.
But as these tools continue to offer more and more functions, something else has been on my mind. Through my work with teams and leaders, I’ve seen how low engagement has become in virtual meetings. Multitasking is now standard behaviour. Of the 1,000 people I’ve asked, 87% admitted to being digitally distracted during online sessions, and if this is happening during training, it’s undoubtedly happening in meetings too. We’re all familiar with the wandering eye of other attendees, the subtle cues that someone isn’t really there and the moments when discussion stalls because half the ‘room’ is mentally elsewhere.
It’s no surprise: 76% of people tell me they attend meetings out of obligation rather than usefulness, often slipping into a spectator or passenger mindset - present in body, but not in mind.
So how do we use AI in a way that supports us without hollowing out the human engagement meetings rely on?
The rise of passive participation
When people know an AI assistant will summarise the conversation, track decisions and extract actions, they naturally stop doing those things themselves. What can happen is listening becomes lighter, note‑taking drops and people wait to be called on rather than staying mentally present. And in turn, meetings become quieter, flatter and less purposeful.
What helps: Set clear engagement expectations that reframe AI as support, not a substitute for attention. As a meeting host, be explicit: your presence is very much required. Encouraging real active listening helps restore the human energy and empathy that passive participation erodes.
Multitasking has become socially acceptable
AI recap features unintentionally give people “permission” to multitask. If the system will catch them up, why not check email or respond to a message? One programme participant even told me they regularly leave an online meeting to make a drink or answer the door to a courier, knowing AI will fill them in when they return. Imagine what our meetings would look like if everyone did this…
Sometimes it helps to take a digital behaviour and imagine it in an analogue setting. You wouldn’t step out of a face‑to‑face meeting to make a cup of tea - so why are we doing it in a virtual one?
What helps: Reinforce that meetings require speaking, sharing and active listening. Encourage people not to be pulled away by their inbox. Build human‑first moments into agendas such as quick insight rounds or reflection pauses to pull people back into the ‘room’ and interrupt the drift into distraction.
Accountability gets blurry
Auto‑assigning actions sounds efficient, but it can weaken ownership. When AI decides who’s responsible, commitment drops and post-meeting friction can increase.
What helps: Use verbal accountability, asking each person to confirm their action before the AI records it. This restores ownership and reduces post‑meeting confusion.
False consensus creeps in
AI summaries can smooth over disagreement and flatten emotional tone. People review a version of the meeting that looks more aligned than it actually was, missing nuance and differing opinion.
What helps: Be conscious and open about AI’s limitations. Summaries are helpful, but they’re interpretations - and hallucinations are real. Nominate a meeting attendee to review the notes before sharing them. Rotating this responsibility boosts accuracy and increases engagement; if you’re the one checking the summary, you need to be fully present.
A closing thought
AI can support meetings brilliantly when used with intent and a human‑centric mindset. But I know that 83% of people were already overwhelmed by their workplace tech before AI became standard, so with multiple new functions and constant updates arriving every month, we need to be mindful that this overwhelm could easily intensify. Actively understanding what AI can do for us, talking with colleagues about how they’re making it work, and turning to the IT team for support and clarification is essential if we want to work in harmony with the technology rather than be drowned by it.
As this new technology becomes more deeply woven into workplace behaviour, the moments when people gather, face‑to‑face or virtually, with nothing but their brains, a pen and some paper will become increasingly valued. A reminder that technology can enhance our meetings, but only humans can make them worthwhile.