Using AI to Summarize Text
September 24, 2024
Do you get swamped handling and analyzing text while working from home? Don't worry! You can make things easier by using AI to summarize text.
AI tools can help you quickly understand lengthy content by creating short summaries. An AI summary generator can simplify long texts into clear bullet points, using advanced algorithms for easy comprehension and enhanced productivity. It can also generate transcripts, list highlights, and take notes for your meetings, so you don't have to worry about missing anything important.
This blog will show you how to use AI to summarize text from documents and files. We'll also teach you an excellent way to summarize meetings so that you can write better meeting recaps or minutes.
Types of Documents and Files that You can Summarize
Before we explore how AI can create a summary of a lengthy text, let's first look at the various content it can handle:
Docs
Whether it's research papers or a business proposal, AI summarizer tools can effectively condense long documents into concise versions, capturing the original context of your document.
Meeting transcripts
Say goodbye to going through hour-long meeting transcripts! With AI tools, you can extract main points and crucial concepts, providing valuable insights from your meeting in just a few seconds.
PDFs
AI-powered tools can turn complex PDFs, like academic articles or user manuals, into easy-to-understand summaries, helping you grasp the content faster and more efficiently.
Videos
Gone are the days of manually transcribing video content for hours! AI summarizer tools can now effortlessly generate summarized text transcripts for convenient consumption. This simplified process makes video content more accessible and manageable.
Audio files
With AI algorithms, audio recordings can now be transcribed and summarized, allowing you to get essential insights without listening to the entire recording.
Social media posts
AI tools can summarize social media posts, tweets, and threads, providing condensed versions of online conversations and discussions. This capability empowers online users to stay informed and engaged with social media content.
How to Use AI to Summarize Text?
Now that we know the types of docs and files that AI can handle, let's discuss the different ways in which AI can summarize text:
Built-in features of apps and tools
Many productivity apps and tools like Notion and ClickUp have built-in features for summarizing text. These features may use AI algorithms to analyze and generate condensed versions of a document or note.
Built-in features of meeting platforms
Meeting platforms like Zoom and Google Meet often have AI-powered transcription features that can automatically generate a written meeting transcript. You can then extract critical ideas and create summaries using these transcripts.
A free plan may not include built-in AI summarizers, as these features are only available in select plans. For example, you must have a paid plan to use Zoom's Meeting Summary with AI Companion feature.
AI transcription tools
AI transcription tools like Tactiq use advanced natural language processing algorithms to transcribe spoken content into text. Users can then edit and summarize the transcript as needed.
You can easily install Tactiq’s free version from the Chrome Web Store. Once you have downloaded Tactiq, it will automatically join, take notes, and transcribe your meetings!
Generative AI
Generative AI models like ChatGPT can summarize text by inputting the original text and requesting a concise summary. These models can generate human-like summaries based on the input text, providing a quick and efficient way to condense information.
Use ChatGPT to Summarize Text
ChatGPT can do many things, including scheduling meetings and generating content briefs. Summarizing with ChatGPT is simple as it uses AI algorithms to produce condensed versions of lengthy texts. Follow these steps to summarize text using ChatGPT:
- Input your prompt. When using ChatGPT to summarize a text, make sure that you use a concise and specific prompt. You can try using some of these prompts:
- "Summarize the key points discussed in our [meeting title], including a bullet point summary of decisions made, action items assigned, and other key points of outcomes. Wait for me to paste the meeting transcript before you write the summary."
- "Provide a summary of [novel title] by [author], highlighting the main plot points, key themes, and character developments."
- Input text. Copy and paste the text to summarize into ChatGPT's input box. You can conveniently do this, especially if your article or transcript is on MS Word or Google Docs. ChatGPT can also serve as your meta description generator to help you write SEO-optimized content briefs if you're into content writing.
- Wait for the summary. Sit back and relax, and let ChatGPT write the text's summary for you instantly!
- Review and edit summary. Once you have the summary, check it carefully. Proofread, edit, or add information to ensure accuracy and clarity.
While ChatGPT is an excellent summarizing tool, it also has limitations:
- ChatGPT token limits. ChatGPT can only process a certain amount of input text at a time. These limits vary depending on the version of ChatGPT you use. If the input article is shorter, it might be fully processed, resulting in complete or accurate summaries.
- Context understanding. ChatGPT is a proficient text generator that can understand and produce text based on the context provided. However, it may need help to capture the intricate details of complex topics or specialized domains, resulting in summaries that miss out on relevant information or fail to convey the intended meaning of the original article.
- Bias and subjectivity. Like other AI models, ChatGPT learns from data that may be biased and subjective, causing unintentional highlighting of certain viewpoints and potentially affecting interpretation.
Summarize Meeting Transcripts With Tactiq
If you attend many meetings and have to analyze their agenda, Tactiq is the AI summarizer tool you need. It takes notes, generates transcripts, and summarizes long discussions, helping your team quickly note key ideas and tasks without searching through many texts.
If you already have a meeting recording or transcript, here's how you can summarize it with Tactiq:
- Upload your meeting recording or transcript. Go to Tactiq's Transcripts page and click Upload Transcript or Recording in the upper right corner.
- Select your file and click Upload.
- Wait for Tactiq to generate the meeting transcript. Once your file is uploaded, Tactiq will automatically generate your meeting transcript. You can then use Tactiq's quick prompts to write effective meeting summaries, meeting recaps, and minutes to share with your team!
- Review and edit. After Tactiq creates your meeting summaries, you can proofread and edit them to include all essential details.
Why use Tactiq for your meeting transcripts?
Tactiq simplifies managing meeting transcripts with its user-friendly interface, acting as an AI text summarizer that can generate concise summaries quickly. Here are some of Tactiq's key features that make it perfect for your meeting needs:
- It supports multiple languages. Tactiq provides multi-language support for meetings in over 25 languages, ensuring accurate transcription and summarization, breaking down language barriers, and promoting inclusivity within your organization.
- Compatible with various meeting platforms. Tactiq works with popular meeting platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, ensuring accurate transcripts and summaries no matter which platform you use.
- Compatible with different apps and tools. Aside from meeting platforms, Tactiq also effortlessly combines with many productivity tools and apps, including Google Drive and Notion, making it more adaptable and user-friendly. Whether using project management software, communication tools, or productivity apps, Tactiq smoothly integrates, letting you use meeting transcripts and summaries across your preferred tools.
- It has a one-click feature. Tactiq's one-click feature, specifically its quick prompts, quickly summarizes text and generates transcripts, highlights, and notes, saving time and enhancing team collaboration.
{{rt_cta_ai-convenience}}
Use Tactiq to Generate YouTube Video Transcripts and Summaries
Tactiq can summarize docs, audio, and video files and now even summarize YouTube videos for free! The first step is to obtain a transcript of the YouTube video. Here's how you can do it with Tactiq if you're using a desktop:
- On Tactiq's website, click "Resources" at the top and choose "YouTube Transcript." Wait for a new tab to load.
- In the new tab, paste the YouTube video URL you want to generate in the input box and click "Get Video Transcript."
- Next, you will have two options for obtaining the YouTube video's transcript.
- Select "Copy" to copy the transcription and paste it on Google Docs or MS Word.
- Select "Download" to get a transcription copy in .txt format.
Once you have the YouTube video transcription, you can upload it on Tactiq and summarize it. Summarizing long YouTube video content is helpful, especially when you need to analyze lengthy video content like lectures or interviews.
FAQs
Who summarizes a Word document in AI?
Several AI tools, including ChatGPT, are available to summarize Word documents. With ChatGPT, you only need to input a prompt to summarize text, making it a straightforward process of copying and pasting content into its input box.
How do you ask AI to summarize something?
To ask AI to summarize something, you typically input the document or text into a summarization tool, select the desired parameters, such as length or level of detail, and initiate the summarization process. You can quickly accomplish this in ChatGPT, where you can enter various prompts to summarize the text.
How do we use AI to summarize meetings?
To summarize meetings using AI, you can record the meeting and then use transcription software to convert speech to text. After that, you can input the transcript into an AI-powered summarization tool to generate a condensed version highlighting critical discussions and decisions made during the meeting. The good news is that you can do all these conveniently and for free within Tactiq!
Let Tactiq Quickly Summarize your Meetings!
AI summarizer tools conveniently condense texts from different documents and files. However, if you want to simplify meetings and generate transcripts and high-quality summaries quickly, Tactiq is your ideal AI tool! Its one-click feature and quick prompts ensure you save time and maximize communication with your team.
Want the convenience of AI summaries?
Try Tactiq for your upcoming meeting.
Want the convenience of AI summaries?
Try Tactiq for your upcoming meeting.
Want the convenience of AI summaries?
Try Tactiq for your upcoming meeting.