Ambient meeting assistant

An ambient meeting assistant is software that runs quietly in the background of a meeting, listening and surfacing helpful context on its own — without joining the call as a bot or requiring you to type commands.

How it works

Rather than appearing as a participant, an ambient assistant sits on your own device and works from the call’s audio. In Canary’s case it uses local system audio capture, so nothing joins the meeting and no virtual audio device is installed. It then keeps a live rolling summary you can glance at whenever you need it.

Why it matters

“Ambient” means the assistant doesn’t interrupt the meeting or demand your attention — it’s just there when you need context. That’s the opposite of a notetaker bot that shows up in the participant list and changes the social dynamic of the call. An ambient approach keeps you in control and gives you meeting situational awareness without making the meeting about the tool. It’s also how you can take notes without a bot.