Zoom Is Evolving, Introduces New AI Features

Zoom has evolved into the newest productivity app with an expanded usage of AI. The company recently announced its partnership with OpenAI in a blog post. As a result, the Zoom IQ AI-powered assistant will now be able to generate summaries, message drafts, and other content within the video conferencing app.

While Zoom IQ already has the ability for creating chapters and highlights to recordings of meetings, the company is now adding even more functions to the assistant. This includes the ability to catch up on meetings you might have missed. This indicates that you will be able to “ask further questions” in addition to asking the tool to summarize what you missed.

In addition, Zoom IQ is capable of creating whiteboards from text prompts, providing meeting recaps, and summarizing conversations in Zoom Team Chat. Similar to the ChatGPT feature that will be available on Slack shortly, Zoom IQ also enables users to create responses for their coworkers using AI. According to the company, AI-powered message and email drafts will be made available by invitation only in April, but “selected” Zoom IQ meeting summary abilities will be made “more broadly.”

Zoom’s intentions to develop its own AI capabilities are probably a response to the new features that its main rivals, Google and Microsoft, have been including in their productivity apps. Microsoft 365 has begun testing an AI assistant called Copilot for Office documents, using the business or organization’s existing data to train it and determine what is important. This is in contrast to Google, which is bringing the ability to generate text, images, and summaries in Docs, Gmail, Sheets, and Slides.

In addition to competing with Google and Microsoft in the AI market, the company has also included an array of features that transform the service into a more comprehensive productivity app. You may access your schedule and emails directly from Zoom using the brand-new Calendar and Mail applications.

According to Zoom, you can connect your Gmail or Microsoft 365 account with the new Mail app, and the new Calendar connection lets you access third-party calendars directly from Zoom. Both functions can be accessed from the sidebar the company says, user can carry out tasks like checking crucial information about upcoming meetings or emailing a meeting host to let them know you’ll be late.

Zoom is introducing yet another robust feature called Huddles, this brand-new feature is described as a “video-enabled virtual coworking space.” In the same way that Huddles on Slack enable you to get into brief video calls to ask questions or talk with a colleague, Zoom’s version of the function does the same. Users can request early access to this function anywhere in the world the company says.