What is a live meeting assistant? How it differs from an AI notetaker

A live meeting assistant is an AI app that transcribes the conversation during a meeting and, when the other side asks a question or raises an objection, writes sentences on your screen that you can say out loud right then. In this post we explain what a live assistant does, how it differs from an AI notetaker, and what to look for when choosing one.

#What does a live meeting assistant do?

A live assistant does three things at once:

1. It listens and transcribes. Speech turns into text as it’s spoken, so you can reread a question you missed on screen.
2. It recognizes when you need help. It steps in when the other side asks a question, raises an objection, or hands the floor to you.
3. It suggests an answer you can say. The suggestion is short and written in the first person, so you can read it and say it as if it were your own sentence.

That third step is what separates a live assistant from an ordinary transcription tool. Transcription shows what was said; a live assistant helps you with your next sentence.

#How is it different from an AI notetaker?

AI notetakers record the meeting, transcribe it and produce a summary after the meeting ends. Their value shows up after the meeting. A live assistant’s value is inside the meeting, in those few seconds when you need to answer.

The two approaches aren’t mutually exclusive. Some apps do both: they make suggestions during the meeting and produce a summary when it ends.

#Should a bot join the meeting?

Meeting assistants get the audio in one of two ways:

• By joining the meeting as a bot. The assistant enters the Zoom, Meet or Teams meeting as a separate participant. It shows up in the participant list and may need the host’s approval.
• By listening to the audio on your computer. The assistant listens to your microphone and the sound coming out of your computer. Nobody is added to the meeting, and it doesn’t matter which call app you use.

Bot-based tools can record even when you can’t attend the meeting. Tools that listen to your computer’s audio leave the participant list unchanged and work independently of the call app. Which one suits you depends on what you’ll use it for.

#The hardest job of a good live assistant: staying quiet

An assistant that writes a reply to every sentence distracts more than it helps. Much of a meeting is greetings, acknowledgments (“okay”, “I see”) and topic transitions; a suggestion to read in those moments is unnecessary.

A good live assistant should stay silent:

• During greetings and small talk
• On short acknowledgments like “okay” or “yes”
• When you’ve already read the suggestion and started saying it
• When you get a personal question that isn’t covered by your preparation

The last point matters most. Language models tend to fill gaps with guesses. An assistant that has you describe a project you never worked on in an interview is more harmful than one that doesn’t help at all.

#Who is it useful for?

• Job candidates: Especially in interviews held in a foreign language, to see the question in writing and get an answer outline based on their own experience.
• People doing sales and demos: To answer a price or competitor objection with the real benefits from their prep material.
• Customer support and account managers: So they don’t miss the next question that leads to the right diagnosis.
• Interviewers: To find a neutral follow-up question that opens up a claim the candidate left vague.

#What should you look for when choosing one?

• Language support: Which languages are your meetings held in? Speech recognition quality varies from tool to tool, especially for languages other than English.
• Preparation: Can you add your own files, like a resume or product docs? Are the suggestions based on that information?
• Silence: Does it stay quiet when it isn’t needed, or does it write something for every sentence?
• Screen sharing: When you share your screen, does the assistant window end up in the share?
• Privacy: Is audio recorded, where is it stored, can it be deleted?
• Platform: Which operating systems does it run on, and which call apps does it work with?

#How does Koldash work?

Koldash is a live meeting assistant built for Mac. It listens to your microphone (You) and the audio playing on your Mac (Them) on separate channels, and transcribes the conversation live in English, Turkish or German. When the other side asks a question, it streams sentences you can say into a floating window, and it stays quiet when it isn’t needed.

No bot joins the meeting; it works with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or any call opened in a browser. The window opens in a way that excludes it from screen sharing. When the meeting ends, it prepares a summary based on the meeting’s purpose and links each point to its source line in the conversation. Audio is not stored.

#Limits and things to keep in mind

A live assistant doesn’t replace your preparation; it brings it into the meeting. Suggestions are based on the information you provide, so the better your preparation, the more accurate the suggestions. Before transcribing a meeting, check the rules where you are and your company’s policy, and let the other side know if required. Rules on using outside help in interviews vary from company to company; follow them.