Otter AI and More Freedom to Listen

Otter AI and The Power of Now

Yes – I’m referring to one of my favorite books, The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. With no exaggeration, the Otter AI transcription platform helped me be more present in all my meetings this past year. It’s done more for me than that, but for now, I’ll focus on how it helped me be a better listener during meetings.

Listening is a skill we often assume we already possess. After all, our ears work. We nod along. We catch words and phrases. But true listening—the kind that receives the full message, not just the sounds—requires more than ears. It demands presence.

EtherealKinetics was born from the idea that if we open ourselves—our senses, our awareness—to the humans around us, to our environment, and even to the quiet whisper of the universe, we will find guidance for our actions. The universe is always speaking. The question is: are we listening?

For me, the challenge of listening came into focus in places where it should be easiest—meetings and classrooms, both virtual and in-person. Picture a boardroom with a dozen stakeholders speaking over one another, or a hybrid meeting where people join from across the world, their voices compressed, delayed, or distorted through the internet. Sometimes the message survives the journey; sometimes it doesn’t.

And then there’s the everyday habit of note-taking. We’re told in school that taking meticulous notes helps us learn: we write, we read, we hear—all at once. But in reality, I’ve watched people interrupt a speaker mid-thought, saying, “Hold on, let me write this down.” The idea that was forming—the spark—vanishes. The sentence never finishes. The moment is lost forever.

The irony is that in trying to capture the moment, we sometimes kill it.

Help Me Listen Better

This realization hit me in an unexpected place: an online college lecture. My professor had a thick German accent and a pace I could not keep up with. The subject matter was complex—well beyond my comfort zone—and my old approach of scribbling notes as fast as possible was getting me nowhere. I knew this class was above my level when I signed up for it, and I dreaded having to drop it – wait – isn’t there some sort of transcription tool I can use? Then I could refer back to what’s being said later with time to look up the parts I didn’t comprehend.

After comparing a few transcription tools and meeting recording platforms, I let Otter AI take the notes. While it transcribed the lecture, I simply… listened. I let go of the frantic mental scramble to “capture” every word. Instead, I sat back, listened carefully, and absorbed what I could, leaving the rest for later.

Beyond Words

In meetings, I’ve noticed that when I’m not buried in my notebook—or even my laptop—I can see what’s happening in the room. The micro-expressions. The sideways glances. The posture changes. The half-smiles. These, too, are messages. If you’re writing, you’re not seeing. And if you’re not seeing, you’re not fully listening.

By letting AI handle the rote task of transcription, I freed my mind for something more important: connection. I could engage with the room, track motivations, and sense the emotions behind the language.

Occasionally, after the VP of Marketing has exmplained some complex challenge they are facing, I am able to send a look of understanding back to them. I’m not sure if this part is even real, but it feels real, and when they give me a look that says “Yes, I can see we’re on the same page”, I know we’re one step closer to agreement on how those challenges should be addressed.

Listening as Freedom

Yes, AI comes with its own set of concerns—about work, about privacy, about the future of humanity. Those are conversations worth having. But here’s my truth: AI has already given me back time. Time to be with my friends. Time with my family. Time with my dogs. Time to breathe.

Listening is no longer something I try to do while juggling pens and keyboards. It’s something I can actually do. And in the quiet of that deeper listening, I find the messages—sometimes from people, sometimes from the moment, sometimes, it seems, from the universe itself.

No, Otter AI did not sponsor this article. But it did quietly teach me something profound: when you stop clinging to the tools you think you need, you just might hear what you’ve been missing all along.