Information Regarding AI Bots in Microsoft Teams Meetings

Modified on Fri, 17 Jan at 12:00 PM

Sent: Tuesday, June 4, 2024 12:16 PM

Type of the Notice: Ongoing AI Bot in Teams Meetings Update

Level of Impact: Med

Urgency Level: Med

User Action Required: No initial action is required, but please review this notice and remain vigilant and patient when incorporating an AI bot into a Teams meeting.

Purpose: To provide a brief update on the status of utilizing AI bots in Teams meetings or being an organizer of a meeting with an AI bot in attendance.

Details:

Security -

At this time, there are no security issues to be made aware of. This is an evolving landscape and will likely change in the coming weeks as more information is available, but we wanted staff to be aware that IT does not currently have any concerns about the cybersecurity of external partners or internal staff utilizing AI Bots in Teams meetings.

Functionality within Teams -

Initially, it was postulated that only (1) AI Bot could attend a Teams meeting or that only (1) recording/transcription could be done at a time. After further testing, it has been confirmed that multiple AI bots are able to attend Teams meetings without impacting any other AI bots in attendance OR the ability for the Organizer to record a meeting.

If you are the Organizer of a Teams meeting, please take the time to review the default settings for any meeting you create to ensure any recording or other permissions are set for your attendees as you intend. This includes settings about who can bypass the lobby, if you have a lobby (for permitting or denying AI Bots access), if the meeting is recorded automatically, etc.

Privacy & Data Ownership -

One of the largest concerns raised by MORPC staff at the moment seems to be privacy and data ownership/public availability. As such, please be aware that much of the meeting privacy and recording permissions are set at the creation of the Teams meeting. While IT can absolutely assist in setting these and provide guidance as needed, I wanted to share this Microsoft Support article about Meeting Options in Microsoft Teams. This can help explain in detail what each meeting setting means. Some settings are determined for the entire MORPC organization, but a large number of these settings can be adjusted individually by the Organizer for each unique meeting, depending upon the intended audience.

Action Plan: The IT Team, leadership, and the AI Team workgroup are all heavily invested in this conversation and actively researching and testing. More information will be rolled out as testing is concluded and decisions are made. Additionally, please know an AI Governance policy as well as an AI Security policy are in progress, but these will take time to fully establish and roll out as we gain insight . We will be sharing with the Org as more information becomes availabe.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me or any member of the IT team should there be any further assistance needed regarding this Service Notice. Thank you for everyone's assistance and patience as we develop this plan of action!