Apple is Piloting New ‘Live Notes’ AI System at Genius Bar

Apple has reportedly begun to test a new ‘Live Notes’ system at some of its retail locations. Within many Apple Stores, AI is used to record and transcribe Genius Bar sessions with customers, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

As part of the latest Power On newsletter, Gurman states that Live Notes allows Apple Store employees to “record sessions with an artificial intelligence tool that transcribes and summarizes their conversations with customers.”

Gurman claims that the transcript is then saved to Apple’s internal Genius Bar system. This tool is supposedly designed to let ‘Geniuses’ focus more on the customer and less on taking notes throughout the session.

For customers who may not feel comfortable with an AI system recording and transcribing notes, do not fear. Gurman reports that Apple’s Live Notes system requires both the customer and the employee to opt in before the Genius Bar session is recorded.

The report goes on to state that there has been some internal discourse revolving around Live Notes and how they’re being implemented. According to Gurman, “The test has nevertheless sparked concern among some Apple retail employees, who worry that recordings could eventually be used to coach workers or factor into performance reviews.”

Gurman’s report notes that Live Notes recordings won’t apparently be saved. Managers of Apple Store retail locations won’t receive transcriptions either. Employees will have the freedom to edit both the transcript and the summary of the recordings before they are saved to Apple’s internal Genius Bar system.

Live Notes is not a mandatory system that’s being used. It’s reportedly a very opt-in process. Gurman also states that it’s “unclear” when Apple will expand the system’s use to more Apple retail stores.