NO BOTS ALLOWED

It turns out a robot has been attending my meetings instead of me... without me knowing!

I recently received an email from a charity I admire and respect, saying that they would prefer if I didn't send my AI bot into online workshops they hosted. They would prefer if I attended instead - don’t send my robot sidekick. 

I had no idea what they were talking about. I had signed up to the workshop, but then the day before removed it from my calendar after noticing a clash in my scheduling. I didn’t think anything of it at the time - I’d missed workshops before. We all over plan things and sometimes something has to give. 

So when I received this quite sassy (understandably) and irate (again understandably) email, I was really confused. That hot embarrassed feeling crept up my neck. Prickly fingers and fast breathing - what had happened? 

I wasn’t even on my computer at the time of the workshop. Nothing was logged on. The workshop had been removed from my calendar. What on earth was going on? 

I called the charity straight away to apologise and to stress that I had no intention of sending a robot to do my bidding - I would never do that! To me, AI seems like some fresh hellscape! We eventually had a nervous giggle about the whole thing. But I was still unsettled. What was going on?

I needed to investigate.

When I got home I had an email in my inbox from Otter.ai, "Here are your notes from the workshop”. I used Otter software when I was at university. It’s a great transcribing tool. You could upload audio files and it would transcribe it for you. But I had barely used it since. 

It turns out that Otter had been logging into multiple meetings and workshops without me! On my dashboard I could see slides and recordings from other meetings and workshops I had missed! This means this devilish robot had been logging into many other sessions, lurking in the corner, never putting its camera on, and using my name! Like a silent corner dwelling pervert at a party in in a black mask. It wasn’t linked to my calendar, it must have accessed my emails somehow. Some were Zoom, some were Teams and some were Google - I couldn’t find a pattern or PERMISSION to it. 

It completely creeped me out, and also embarrassed me. What did these groups think of me? The weirdo that attends a session and never speaks or puts on their camera. Or a Musk loving douche who sends their robot because they are too important to attend in person.

The type of work I do can be sensitive, which means the workshops or lectures I sign up to can be of a sensitive nature. ‘Trauma informed storytelling’ for example. This Otter bot has no idea of privacy, consent or GDPR - or even just human sensitivity. If I was sharing a story and a blank box was starting at me silently judging and taking notes, I would be very unsettled. 

I eventually found the settings in Otter and disabled everything - things I didn’t even understand - because I still don’t understand how it was able to access all this information. After disabling all the settings, I then completely deleted my account - just to be safe!

Apologies to anyone else that my robot has done this to, it has never been my intention to send an intrusive robot pervert

in my place. 

Also just a little warning to anyone else using this software - check the settings to avoid your robot taking over!