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Generative AI Tools available through Connecticut College

Introduction to Zoom AI Companion

 

Zoom AI Companion is a suite of generative AI features designed to enhance productivity and collaboration within the Zoom platform, offering capabilities like meeting summaries, in-meeting questions, and smart recordings, accessible through a side panel in Zoom Workplace. 

Key Features and Functionality:

  • Smart Recordings: AI Companion can automatically create smart recordings of cloud-recorded meetings, organizing them by chapter, highlighting important information, and creating action items for attendees. 

  • Whiteboard Assistance: In Zoom Whiteboard, AI Companion can help generate ideas and organize content into categories. 

  • AI Companion Panel: Users can access AI Companion through a convenient side panel within Zoom Workplace, where they can interact with the AI assistant and access its various capabilities. 

  • Meeting Summaries: AI Companion can generate summaries of Zoom meetings, including key topics, action items, and next steps, which can be shared via email or Zoom Team Chat. 

  • In-Meeting Questions: During a meeting, participants can ask AI Companion questions about the discussion, such as "Catch me up," "Was my name mentioned?", or "What are the action items?". 

How to Access

 

Zoom AI is turned off by default for all users.  Follow these steps to enable the AI Companion and configure your settings:

1 : Open the Zoom portal in a browser at https://conncoll-edu.zoom.us/. Sign in with your Connecticut College credentials. 

2: Select Settings from the left panel, then select AI Companion from the top panel. Toggle on the button next to AI Companion panel in Zoom Workplace. 

 

enabling Zoom AI Companion

 

3: As with Zoom meetings, there are several features in Zoom AI Companion that users can choose to enable. Spend some time reviewing the Settings options to customize your AI Companion experience.

 

4:  Once toggled on and enabled, the AI Companion should appear as a panel on the right when are signed into your Zoom Workplace desktop app. In the AI Companion panel, you can  tap on suggested prompts, ask your own prompts, attach files, view conversation history, and more. 

Zoom AI Companion in the Zoom Workplace app

 

 

 

To access AI Companion during a meeting, click on the AI Companion icon on the in-meeting controls. In the AI Companion panel, you can enter keywords, phrases, or sentences to ask questions about the meeting or request assistance. 

AI Companion in Zoom Meeting

Considerations

 

Web content

  • Public web content from Perplexity can be used as a data source for AI Companion smart assistant. Zoom requires Perplexity to delete inputs and outputs upon delivery of the output. Perplexity is not permitted to train its artificial intelligence models on Zoom customer content.

Privacy and Security

  • While Zoom states it does not use customer content to train its AI models, it is crucial to avoid using AI Companion in meetings where sensitive or confidential information is discussed.

Transparency and Consent

  •  Meeting hosts should inform all participants when AI Companion features are enabled. 

Local file uploads

  • Files uploaded by users can be used as a data source for AI Companion smart assistant for the users who upload the files. Other users can not see those files.

Meeting Summaries

  • If a user chooses to "enable meeting summaries" in their settings, then as a host, they can generate a summary. Summaries are sent after the meeting has ended based on the share options.

  • Summaries will be auto-deleted after 30 days.