Stop Taking Notes with AI—Icelanders Will Knit Your Meeting Summary for You
Visit Iceland has launched the AI Knittakers service, allowing people to book a free session with an Icelandic knitter who joins an online meeting and uses yarn to knit a keyword that sums up the meeting, such as "align," "pivot," or "WTF?" The campaign runs until November 20. The knitter will send a photo of the finished piece by email, and users in Europe and North America can also opt to have the physical item mailed to them; some knitters support languages other than English. The campaign targets meeting fatigue: a December 2023 survey of 5,000 employees found that 78% believe meetings affect their ability to complete work, and 76% feel exhausted on days with back-to-back meetings.
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Is there anything worse than a meeting that really should have been an email? Visit Iceland has a new, albeit quirky, way to combat increasing meeting fatigue.
Rather than turning to AI tools and notetakers to take your place or keep track of what’s important in meetings, a real, crafty person will show up to listen. The AI Knittakers initiative from Visit Iceland will let you book an authentic Icelandic knitter to join your virtual meeting who will knit a sign with a single word that sums up the meeting, like “align,” “pivot,” “reset,” “huh?” or, my personal favorite, “WTF?”
Meeting fatigue is real. A December 2023 survey of 5,000 workers found that 78% of respondents said work meetings make it hard for them to get their work done, and 76% said they feel drained on heavy meeting days, highlighting that the growing number of virtual meetings since the COVID-19 pandemic is both ineffective and exhausting. Many stressed-out workers (65%) are now turning to AI notetakers to sometimes attend meetings for them.
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“An AI notetaker hears every word,” said Salka Sól Eyfeld, the program’s chief AI Knittaker. “A knitter hears the sigh. We listen for the one thing that actually matters, and then we knit it.”
The initiative is available now and will run through Nov. 20.
How to book an Icelandic AI Knittaker
The booking couldn’t be simpler: Pick an available Knittaker from the website, book them during a meeting when your schedules align and give your coworkers the surprise of a lifetime while you do something more fun. The AI Knittaker will also email you a photo of your knitted one-word meeting summary, with the option to have it shipped to you if you live in Europe or the US.
The best part? It’s completely free.
According to the press release, some Knittakers will also be available to attend meetings in languages other than English. Just explore the list of Knittakers to see their language capabilities.
Maybe the answer to meeting fatigue isn’t another AI tool, but an actual human in your place.
What’s behind the knitted sign
The idea of giving your coworkers a shock while also making a statement about your precious work time sounds appealing, but it also signals a broader global attitude.
People are drained by meetings, and AI tools exacerbate it. A recent study in Harvard Business Review found that certain uses of AI tools, such as switching between different chatbots, can lead to cognitive fatigue they call “brain fry.”
After conducting a survey that found that workers spend about 8 hours per month in meetings that they deem unnecessary, Visit Iceland wanted to remind you that there’s more to life than just work meetings. The solution is both deeply analog and deeply Icelandic.
Knitting is a big part of everyday life in Iceland, according to Visit Iceland, and is a common hobby for relaxation and socialization. Icelanders are often knitting lopapeysas, Iceland’s distinctive patterned jumpers made of lopi wool, in public and even during meetings. By joining the work call, the AI Knittakers will give you a glimpse of their culture and stunning surroundings, reminding you of how good life can be when it’s not dominated by work and technology.
“It’s easy to assume that every modern problem needs a technological answer,” said Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir, spokesperson for Visit Iceland. “In Iceland, we’ve found that some of the best answers are the simplest ones: a little more time, a little more nature and people who really listen to each other.
“With AI Knittakers, we’re sharing a little of that Icelandic perspective with the world, and we hope it inspires people to step away from their screens and perhaps come and experience Iceland for themselves,” she added.
Macy Meyer
Reporter II
Macy is a writer on the AI Team. She covers how AI is changing daily life and how to make the most of it. This includes writing about consumer AI products and their real-world impact, from breakthrough tools reshaping daily life to the intimate ways people interact with AI technology day-to-day. Macy is a North Carolina native who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in English and a second BA in Journalism. You can reach her at mmeyer@cnet.com.
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