The Dangers of Relying on AI to Produce Board Minutes
Date: 24/07/2025 | Corporate, Data Protection & Information Law
Every UK company has a legal obligation to keep accurate board minutes recording the decisions of directors – and increasingly companies are using AI to simplify this process and keep record of proceedings.
But while AI can be a useful tool to help speed up the process of producing minutes, companies should exercise caution and carefully consider some key issues before making use of generative AI for this purpose.
What are the risks?
Much of what’s discussed at board meetings is highly confidential so it’s important to be aware some AI tools use the information they collect to improve their own performance. That can lead to confidentiality breaches, either by the use of company information in the AI’s response to questions from third parties, or more indirectly by the AI being trained using confidential information.
There are also data protection issues to consider. Personal data may be disclosed during a meeting and minuted – and, in addition, transcribing every word of a meeting may also constitute the processing of personal data of those present. For that reason, consent should always be obtained from those attending the meeting ifits being recorded or transcribed.
Accuracy can also be a big issue – although hopefully one that is easily solved by circulating draft minutes to all attendees for approval before they are finalised. Given directors may need to rely on minutes at some point for evidential use or in an insolvency situation, the penalties for getting the minutes wrong can be severe. Sometimes AI doesn’t get things quite right, so human review of anything that’s produced is still essential.
Consider also that using AI can, in some cases, leave a company more open to cyber attacks – so it’s boards need to seriously consider that risk and how best to mitigate it.
Dangerous tech or long-awaited solution?
While there are risks in using AI for board minutes, many people believe the automation of this task is long overdue and are happy to use the technology in the same way they do in their day to day business.
However tread carefully before using AI for creating board minutes, for all the reasons above.
If you decide your still want to proceed and use AI for this purpose, your company must check carefully that it is using a legitimate service with proper safeguards in place to deal with issues such as data protection, confidentiality and cyber security, otherwise this may create more problems than it solves.
If you have any concerns about using AI to speed up and streamline the production of board minutes, get in touch with your usual Corporate contact who will be happy to help.
Disclaimer
The matter in this publication is based on our current understanding of the law. The information provides only an overview of the law in force at the date hereof and has been produced for general information purposes only. Professional advice should always be sought before taking any action in reliance of the information. Accordingly, Davidson Chalmers Stewart, Wright, Johnston & Mackenzie LLP and the author do not take any responsibility for losses incurred by any person through acting or failing to act on the basis of anything contained in this publication.
