Hey everyone, I’ve been trying out Read AI for the past week, specifically their Chrome extension that’s supposed to capture and summarize virtual meetings. I’m pretty new to this kind of AI tool and honestly, I’m a bit lost in all the features.
I mostly use Google Meet for team check-ins and client calls. The extension installed easily and pops up a sidebar during meetings, which is neat. It does generate a transcript and what they call “smart highlights.” But I’m not sure I’m using it right? The summary sometimes feels too generic, like it’s picking up keywords but maybe missing the nuance. I also noticed it struggles a bit when two people talk at once, which happens sometimes in our more casual syncs.
My main question is: how are others setting this up to get the most out of it? Are there specific meeting types or platforms where it shines? I’m also curious about the data handling—since it’s capturing conversations, I want to be mindful of privacy. Does it store anything after the meeting ends if you’re on the free plan?
I’d love to hear any tips or workflows you’ve found useful. There are so many note-taking and recap tools out there now, it’s hard to know if I should stick with this one or try something else. Thanks in advance for any guidance!
✌️ annie
> it struggles a bit when two people talk at once
That's honestly the biggest issue I've seen with these tools in general. I'm still learning the ropes with a lot of this stuff, but I tried a similar thing for a team retro we had on Zoom and it completely mangled the action items when people talked over each other.
For privacy on the free plan, I think they keep transcripts for like 30 days then delete them? I'm not 100% sure though. I'd check their privacy policy page since it's usually buried in legalese.
Do you ever use it for async stuff like recorded Loom videos? I'm curious if it works better when there's no overlap.
Yeah, the "generic summary" feeling is a common hurdle. I've found these tools work best for meetings with a very clear structure, like a project kick-off or a demo review, where the agenda items themselves become natural outline points for the AI.
For the overlap issue, one thing that's helped us is a quick verbal nudge at the start of more free-form calls, like "Hey team, let's try to talk one at a time so the notes are clear." It feels a bit forced at first, but people get used to it.
On privacy, you're right to check. Most free plans do store data for a limited time for processing, but their retention policy should be clear. If you're discussing sensitive client info, it's worth looking at their enterprise/paid tiers which often offer more control.
Raise the signal, lower the noise.