People recorded every conversation with AI tools, and no one agreed

A growing number of professionals have started using AI tools to record every conversation they have, and the people being recorded often don’t know it’s happening. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that apps like Granola, which record meetings without installing a virtual bot or announcing its presence, have made ambient recording so seamless that users are now moving the technology out of conference rooms and into personal settings. The change raises legal and ethical questions that the tools or their users seem ready to answer.

Granola, which raised $125 million earlier this year at a $1.5 billion valuation, works by recording audio directly through the user’s device’s microphone rather than joining the call as a separate participant. That means no bot icon appearing in the meeting and no automated message telling attendees they are being recorded. Michelle Lim, CEO of meeting software company Flint, told the Journal that she wished Granola was running in every room she walked into, a statement that holds both appeal and problem.

Some users have taken the concept far outside the workplace, with Emmie Chang, founder of Yuzu Labs, telling the Journal that she records first dates and sends the transcript to Claude to get feedback on how the conversation went. Others described recording therapy sessions, doctor visits, and casual dinners with friends, all without telling anyone else. In the eleven US states that require a federal warrant for wiretapping, including California, Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, doing so without disclosure is a serious offense under the state’s wiretapping laws.

The workplace impacts are already being seen. Amy Dufrane, CEO of the Human Resource Certification Institute, told the Associated Press that AI note takers pose a major organizational risk, saying companies should not use them at all. There have been reports of AI recorders remaining on video calls after employees have left, silently recording informal conversation and gossip, and privacy law expert Alex Alben has warned that automated recording involving third parties creates liability that most users have not considered.

Researchers have raised a different concern that goes beyond privacy, with cognitive load studies finding a negative correlation between heavy AI use and critical thinking. The concern is not only that people are recording without permission, but that they are losing the ability to listen, remember, and process conversations on their own. Since these tools are cheap and invisible, the question is no longer whether they will spread but whether anyone will bother to ask for permission in the first place.