--- title: "Transcribing a meeting with the AI notetaker" description: "The AI notetaker transcribes a meeting as it happens, so you can follow the discussion in text and keep a written record. It runs in the Talkspirit Desktop app and processes your microphone on your own machine." category: structure-governance section: meetings type: Tutorial lastUpdated: 2026-08-28 locale: en canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/structure-governance/transcribe-a-meeting-with-the-ai-notetaker --- # Transcribing a meeting with the AI notetaker The **AI notetaker** transcribes a meeting while it happens. You open it from the meeting, start it when the discussion begins, and the words appear in a live transcript beside the agenda. The transcript is saved with the meeting, so anyone who can open the meeting afterwards can read it. > **The AI notetaker needs the Talkspirit Desktop app.** Transcription is not available in a web browser. It works by processing your microphone with a speech model that runs **on your own machine**, which is why the desktop app is required: the audio does not leave your computer to be turned into text. If you open the AI notetaker in a browser, Talkspirit tells you the desktop app is needed and offers the download. ## Before you begin - The **Talkspirit Desktop app**, signed in to your organisation. See the [Desktop App FAQ](/en/getting-started/desktop-app-faq). - **Microphone access** granted to Talkspirit on your computer. Your operating system asks the first time, and you can change it later in your system settings. - You are a **participant of the meeting**. Only meeting participants can start the AI notetaker; for everyone else the action is greyed out. ## Starting the transcription 1. Open the meeting. 2. Open the actions menu in the meeting header and select **AI notetaker**. The transcription panel opens. 3. Select **Start transcription**. ![The actions menu of a meeting header, open on its single item, AI notetaker, which is what opens the transcription panel](/images/structure-governance/transcribe-a-meeting-with-the-ai-notetaker/01-ai-notetaker-menu-item.png) The panel shows **Recording...** while it listens, **Listening...** while it works out the words just spoken, and adds each finished passage to the **Live transcript** below. While the transcription is running you can: - **Pause** it, then **Resume** when you want to carry on. Pausing is useful for a part of the discussion that should not be written down. - **Stop transcription** to end it. - **Copy transcript** to put the text on your clipboard. - **Clear transcript** to discard what has been captured so far. - **Close transcription** to put the panel away. Recording carries on, and an indicator stays in the meeting header so you do not forget it is running. > **Everyone in the meeting can tell that a transcription is running.** While you record, the other participants see a microphone indicator in the meeting header, and their actions menu offers **View transcript** instead of **AI notetaker**. Even so, tell the room you are about to start: a written record of a discussion is the kind of thing people expect to be asked about, and in many organisations it is a requirement rather than a courtesy. ## Reading the transcript afterwards Once the meeting is completed, the actions menu offers **View transcript** to everyone who can open the meeting. The same item appears during the meeting for participants who are not the one recording. The transcript is saved to Talkspirit as it is captured. If that saving fails, for example because your connection drops, the panel warns you that it could not save to the server and **keeps recording locally**, so the discussion is not lost while the connection is down. ## Importing a transcript If a meeting was transcribed somewhere else, you can bring that text in instead of recording it again. Open **View transcript** from the meeting's actions menu, choose **Import a transcript**, then either paste the text or select **Load from file** to load a `.vtt` or `.txt` file, set the **Language**, and select **Import**. If the meeting already has a transcript, Talkspirit warns you that importing will **replace** it, and the button reads **Replace the transcript**. ## If the microphone is blocked If your computer refuses microphone access, the panel says so and shows you how to fix it. On macOS: 1. Open **System Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone**. 2. Enable access for **Talkspirit AI**. 3. Come back to the panel and select **Retry**. On other systems, check your microphone privacy settings, allow access for Talkspirit AI, and retry. ## Troubleshooting | What you see | What it means | What to do | | --- | --- | --- | | Transcription requires the Talkspirit Desktop app | You are in a web browser | Install and open the Talkspirit Desktop app, then reopen the meeting | | Transcription is unavailable on this device | The local speech model is not installed | Check that local transcription is installed with your desktop app, then try again | | Microphone access was denied | Your operating system is blocking the microphone | Allow access for Talkspirit AI in your system settings, then select **Retry** | | No speech detected | Nothing audible reached the microphone | Check that the right microphone is selected and that it is not muted | | Could not capture audio from microphone | Another application may be holding the microphone | Close other apps using the microphone, then start again | | Network error | The connection dropped | Check your connection. Recording continues locally in the meantime | | **AI notetaker** is greyed out | You are not a participant of this meeting | Ask to be added to the meeting, or ask a participant to run the transcription | ## Next steps - [Adding agenda items to a meeting](/en/structure-governance/adding-agenda-items-to-a-meeting) - [Closing a meeting](/en/structure-governance/how-to-close-a-meeting) - [Meeting visibility](/en/structure-governance/meeting-visibility) - [Desktop App FAQ](/en/getting-started/desktop-app-faq)