Indeed, ChatGPT can help board members take notes ahead of a meeting. But OpenAI’s chairman says there’s value in sticking with the old ways.
OpenAI board chair Brett Taylor said on a recent podcast, Uncapped with Jack Altman, that he prefers brief but detailed documents from board members rather than slide presentations.
“I love the written documents for the board more than the presentations,” Taylor said. “You’re having people compile information before the board, and you end up having more substantive discussions in the board room.”
Taylor, a former co-CEO of Salesforce and co-founder of AI startup Sierra, said writing without AI is a valuable thinking exercise and can help board members clarify their thoughts.
His expectation for the boards he runs is that members read written material beforehand, which helps keep things focused and substantive during the actual meeting.
“The important thing is that it’s read, and that it’s pre-read,” he said. “It ends up being a meeting about the actual meat and potatoes on the agenda, and not staring at big sales numbers for the first time.”
“I think this is how most companies should be run,” Taylor said. “The other thing that’s really interesting is that we don’t write with AI.”
“It’s so weird to have to say that now, but I’ve found that the process of writing is a process of clarifying your thoughts. For Clay and I, it’s a process of synthesizing what’s going on,” he said, referring to Sierra co-founder Clay Baber. “You know it and you talk about it, but actually writing it and writing it eloquently and concisely is very important.”
Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos is famously a big fan of meetings focused on a single sheet of pre-prepared notes, but while Bezos preferred detailed six-page memos, Taylor particularly favored brevity, arguing that brevity was a sign of careful thought and respect for stakeholders.
“What was that famous line? If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter,” he added. “Spend the time. It shows stakeholders that you are thinking about the strategic issues going on in the business.”
Taylor may not be a fan of leveraging AI for board preparation, but that doesn’t mean he’s dismissing the technology’s potential to be valuable in high-stakes situations.
“My gut feeling is that if a tough opinion is needed, regulators will start looking for representation,” he said. “The idea that humans can control regulated processes will start to feel more like a risk than an AI risk.”
