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Lindstrom launches Otter.ai pilot to transcribe meetings; council cautions human review and cybersecurity checks
Summary
Assistant Tom announced the city has started a pilot using Otter.ai to transcribe meetings in real time and draft minutes; council members raised concerns about accuracy and cybersecurity, and staff said human review will continue and audio will be retained for verification.
The city is piloting Otter.ai to automatically transcribe council meetings and generate draft minutes, Assistant Tom (speaker 5) announced.
Tom said the tool is intended to reduce staff time spent on manual transcription, noting he evaluated cybersecurity, cost and usability before recommending the vendor. He demonstrated that the system transcribes in real time and can surface audio so staff can verify who said what. Tom and other council members acknowledged that automatic transcription is not error-free and that human review will remain part of the minutes process. Tom said the tool will improve speaker identification with training and that staff will retain audio to cross-check questionable transcriptions.
Council reaction: Several council members welcomed the time savings but asked about accuracy and whether the city had evaluated cybersecurity risks. Tom agreed human oversight is required, said speaker identification will improve with continued use, and said the city can rely on the audio attachment to check unclear passages.
Next steps: The pilot is active; staff will monitor accuracy and cybersecurity, retain audio for verification, and continue human review before minutes are finalized.
