Zoom AI Companion Features for Meetings Now Available
Posted Date: March 30, 2026
Northwestern students, faculty, and staff now have access to a group of Zoom AI Companion features, which are an opt-in set of AI-powered tools designed to integrate directly into the Zoom meeting experience. These tools can help summarize discussions, answer questions in real time, and enhance recordings—while keeping data privacy front and center.
Use of the Zoom AI features is disabled in all user accounts by default and must be enabled in both the Zoom account settings and in-meeting controls to be used.
Key Features at-a-Glance
Meeting hosts who choose to enable these features can use three built-in tools:
- Meeting Summary – Automatically generates a concise post-meeting summary that can be edited, shared with participants, and used to capture suggested next steps and action items.
- In-Meeting Questions – Allows participants to ask questions during a meeting about what’s been discussed, recalling key topics, and summarizing the public in-meeting chat using preset or custom prompts.
- Smart Recordings – Enhances recorded meetings with automated chapter creation, highlights, key moments, and summaries to make recordings easier to review and share.
These tools are designed to help capture key points, surface action items, and make it easier to revisit meeting content. Meeting Summaries and Smart Recordings are editable by the meeting host.
Getting Started with AI Companion
This collection of Zoom AI Companion features for meetings is disabled in all Northwestern Zoom accounts by default, and individuals must opt in by enabling the features in their Zoom profile settings before using them in a meeting.
A star-shaped AI Companion icon will then appear in the meeting control bar during hosted meetings.To begin using any of the AI features in a meeting, you will then need to click on the star-shaped AI Companion icon and select the option to Start AI Companion.
It is important to note that enabling these features allows you to control the tools only for meetings you host. Other users may choose not to enable them on their own accounts, meaning it may not be available in meetings they host.
Visit the Northwestern Knowledge Base for step-by-step instructions to enable these in-meeting features.
Participation Options for Attendees
When these tools are active in a meeting, participants will be required to consent to their use. If participants do not consent, they can remain in the meeting with their microphones and cameras disabled. They will continue to have access to the in-meeting chat regardless of their consent to the AI features.
If a participant subsequently tries to enable their microphone or camera after initially denying consent, the consent form will reappear, allowing them to modify their response.
Data Privacy and Responsible Use
As with all generative AI tools at Northwestern, data stewardship is critical. Please note the following guidelines before enabling these Zoom AI Companion features:
- Zoom AI Companion should not be used during meetings with sensitive information.
- It is approved only for Level 1 and 2 data (see the Data Classification Policy for a description of data levels).
- Level 3 data and higher (PHI, HIPAA, Business Sensitive Data) is prohibited in any use cases where AI Companion is present.
- Zoom AI Companion data is not used to train AI models and is deleted after processing, though it may be handled by third-party providers.
- Review the Northwestern Guidance on the Use of Generative AI.
- When used in teaching and learning contexts, inform students in the syllabus or course introduction if you are going to use Zoom AI Companion features.
Learn More and Additional Resources
Anyone in our community interested in using these Zoom AI Companion features can explore additional guidance and documentation, including: