AI note takers for recruiters and candidate interviews

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Recruiters talk all day, and most of what they hear has to end up in the applicant tracking system (ATS). In the public r/recruiting threads we read, three needs came up: notes that fit the scorecard instead of a wall of transcript, a clear answer when candidates ask what happens to the recording, and a way to capture phone screens without a meeting link.

The note taker doesn't make the hiring call. You do. Rating the candidate stays your job. Laws on AI in hiring are new and changing. See Hiring-AI rules below.

Quick answer

• You already use Greenhouse or Ashby: check the ATS's own note taker first. Greenhouse Notetaker and Ashby's AI Notetaker are built in, so notes and consent status live on the candidate record. Both are video-only on the pages we read (Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams).
• You use Lever, Greenhouse, Ashby or BambooHR and want one note taker for every call: Fireflies lists all four as supported ATS platforms. It matches meeting invitees to candidates by email and logs notes on the candidate's profile.
• A lot of your screens are phone calls: Metaview documents recorded phone calls (from your browser or your own phone, through its switchboard). Fireflies documents phone calls through dialer apps it connects to, such as RingCentral, Aircall, Quo, JustCall and Zoom Phone.
• You want interview notes next to the scorecard: Greenhouse's notetaker puts question-by-question notes and a summary beside the scorecard, and Ashby and Metaview post notes to the candidate's profile. Rating the candidate stays your job.

Comparison (as of 2026-10-26)

Each cell is the vendor's own claim from the page in Sources. "Not stated" means we didn't find it on the pages we read, not that the vendor doesn't offer it. Rows are in alphabetical order, not ranked.

Deals change often; check the vendor's site.

Greenhouse's pages differ on opt-in. Its Security and Privacy FAQ (last updated August 10, 2026) says "At this time, there is no opt-in consent available within the Greenhouse Notetaker product feature." Its newer how-to page (last updated October 20, 2026) lists a "Default consent status" setting of "Opt in or Opt out" per office and department rule. Check with Greenhouse which one applies to your account.

What we didn't check: ATS connections for Otter, Fathom, Granola and tl;dv. Bluedot's pricing lists "CRM & ATS integrations" on Business but doesn't name an ATS on the page we read.

How to pick

• Start with where the notes have to land. If your team lives in one ATS, a note taker that writes to the candidate record saves the copy-paste. Fireflies matches by the candidate's email, so a candidate who joins from a different address may not match.
• Turn off automatic candidate creation if you don't want it. Fireflies says it creates a new candidate in Greenhouse, or in Lever if you leave the toggle on, when it can't find one. That can put people from non-hiring calls into your ATS. Its Greenhouse guide also has a "Push Past Meetings" option that sends up to 90 days of earlier meetings. Check which past meetings you send to your ATS.
• Phone screens are the gap. The two built-in ATS note takers we read are video-only. If half your screens are phone calls, check a tool that records calls (Metaview), or whether your phone system connects to your note taker (Fireflies' dialer list). Your iPhone can also record calls in some regions, with an audio notice to both sides; see free ways to transcribe audio.
• Notes should help the scorecard, not replace it. A summary of what the candidate said is useful. The rating and the hire or no-hire call should be the interviewer's own.
• Keep recordings only as long as you need them. Greenhouse deletes recordings after 30 days by default (you can set 1 to 60 days); transcripts, notes and scorecards stay. Ashby lets admins set separate retention for recordings, transcripts and AI notes. Ask your legal or HR team what your retention period should be.
• IT may want to review it first. See getting an AI note taker approved by IT and security.

Hiring-AI rules

This is general information, not legal advice. Laws on AI in hiring are new and changing. Talk to an employment lawyer about your own hiring.

• Illinois, AI Video Interview Act (820 ILCS 42). The Act applies to an employer that "asks applicants to record video interviews and uses an artificial intelligence analysis of the applicant-submitted videos" for positions based in Illinois. It's about AI analysis of recorded video interviews; its text doesn't talk about note taking or transcription. Before asking for the video, the employer must tell each applicant that AI may be used to analyze it, explain how the AI works and what general types of characteristics it uses, and get the applicant's consent. The law says an employer "may not use artificial intelligence to evaluate applicants who have not consented". It also limits who the videos can be shared with, requires deleting them within 30 days of an applicant's request, and, if an employer relies solely on AI to decide who gets an in-person interview, requires reporting race and ethnicity data each year (Illinois General Assembly, checked 2026-10-26).
• New York City, Local Law 144 of 2021 (automated employment decision tools). New York City's consumer and worker protection department says the law "prohibits employers and employment agencies from using an automated employment decision tool unless the tool has been subject to a bias audit within one year of the use of the tool, information about the bias audit is publicly available, and certain notices have been provided to employees or job candidates" (NYC DCWP, checked 2026-10-26). DCWP began enforcing the law July 5, 2023, and notices must go out 10 business days before use.
• Illinois, Human Rights Act AI amendment (Public Act 103-0804, in effect since January 1, 2026). It makes it a civil rights violation for an employer to use artificial intelligence "that has the effect of subjecting employees to discrimination on the basis of protected classes", or to use zip codes as a proxy for them, "with respect to recruitment, hiring, promotion" and other employment decisions. It also makes it a violation "to fail to provide notice to an employee that the employer is using artificial intelligence" for those purposes. The law defines artificial intelligence to include generative AI (Illinois General Assembly, Public Act 103-0804, checked 2026-10-26).
• Whether these laws apply to your setup is a question for a lawyer. They're written in different ways, and Illinois's Human Rights Act rule covers AI generally, including generative AI. Ashby's security FAQ says laws such as NYC Local Law 144 "may apply if you use AI outputs to evaluate candidates or substantially assist hiring decisions." Greenhouse's FAQ says its notetaker "does not produce ratings, scores, hire/no-hire recommendations" (both checked 2026-10-26). Those are the vendors' views, not legal rulings.
• Other places have their own rules. Other states and cities have passed or proposed rules on AI in hiring, and candidates outside the US are covered by their own laws. Colorado has a law on AI in consequential decisions, including employment, that applies from January 1, 2027 (Colorado General Assembly, SB 26-189, checked 2026-10-26). We haven't listed the others here.

Privacy and consent

Recording laws: tell people first. Federal law and most states let you record a conversation you're part of. About 11 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, generally require everyone's consent, and a few states mix the rules. Oregon, for example, requires that everyone in an in-person conversation be told it's being recorded, while phone calls need one person's consent (RCFP guide, ORS 165.540). If people are in different states, the stricter law may apply. Rules outside the US differ too, and many employers, schools and clinics have their own policies. A meeting bot showing up in the participant list is a notice, not consent. The same goes for a "this call may be recorded" greeting: it may not tell people that an AI service is transcribing or summarizing the call, so name the AI note taker when you ask. This is general information, not legal advice. If you're unsure, ask a lawyer where you live.

A simple way to ask. Start recording first, so your announcement is captured on the recording (Washington law requires that). Then say:

"Quick heads-up: I'd like to record this and use an AI note taker to transcribe it, so I don't miss anything. The recording and notes are stored with [tool name]. Is everyone OK with that?"

Wait for a clear yes from each person. If anyone says no, stop and delete what you captured. For meetings with outside guests, also put a line in the invite: "This meeting may be recorded and transcribed by an AI note taker. Let me know beforehand if you'd prefer it isn't."

• Tell candidates before the call, too. Put the line above in the interview invite or scheduling email, and repeat the ask at the start of the call. Greenhouse and Ashby both collect a consent choice during scheduling; that's a record of what the candidate picked, and the ask on the call still matters.
• Answer the question candidates actually ask. Candidates want to know who sees the recording and how long it's kept. Have a one-line answer ready that matches your company's real policy, for example: "Only the hiring team for this role sees it, and we delete recordings after [your retention period]." Only say that saying no won't affect their application if that's true at your company. If you use your ATS's default notice, make sure every line in it is true for your process.
• A vendor's suggested script may not be enough by itself. Metaview suggests saying: "So that I can make the most of our time together, I use Metaview, an AI assistant, to help with my note-taking. It is not required though, please let me know if you'd prefer me not to use it for our conversation." (Metaview phone calls help, checked 2026-10-26). It doesn't say the call is being recorded, so use our script above as well.
• Phone screens cross state lines. If the candidate is in an all-party consent state, the stricter rule may apply. Ask on the recording, every time.
• A tool's notice isn't consent. A bot in the participant list or a line in an invite tells people. It doesn't mean they agreed. Ask, and wait for a yes.

What we did and didn't do

We read the vendor help, FAQ and pricing pages and the official law pages below on 2026-10-26. We didn't sign up for any tool, connect any ATS or record any call, so we can't confirm how these features work in practice. The reader needs above come from three public r/recruiting threads we read in October 2026; we don't quote, link or name anyone.

Sources (checked 2026-10-26)

• Ashby, AI Notetaker overview (plans, what's included): https://docs.ashbyhq.com/ai-notetaker
• Ashby, AI Notetaker recording consent management (default policy, overrides, disclosure messages, recording-eligible locations): https://docs.ashbyhq.com/ai-notetaker-recording-consent-management
• Ashby, AI Notetaker security FAQ (storage, retention, SOC 2 Type II, NYC Local Law 144 statement): https://docs.ashbyhq.com/ai-notetaker-security-faq
• Fireflies, Applicant Tracking Systems supported (page shows "Last updated 1 year ago"): https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/4615950088-applicant-tracking-systems-ats-supported
• Fireflies, How to integrate Greenhouse with Fireflies (page shows "Last updated 2 months ago"): https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1835070508-how-to-integrate-greenhouse-with-fireflies
• Fireflies, Connect Fireflies to Lever: https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/8941835843-how-to-integrate-lever-with-fireflies
• Fireflies, Learn about Fireflies Dialer integrations (dialer list and minute limits): https://guide.fireflies.ai/articles/1735609294-learn-about-fireflies-dialer-integrations
• Fireflies pricing: https://fireflies.ai/pricing
• Greenhouse Support, Use Greenhouse Notetaker to record and summarize interviews (last updated October 20, 2026): https://support.greenhouse.io/hc/en-us/articles/50523570982939-Use-Greenhouse-Notetaker-to-record-and-summarize-interviews
• Greenhouse Support, Greenhouse Notetaker Security and Privacy FAQ (last updated August 10, 2026): https://support.greenhouse.io/hc/en-us/articles/50625169022491-Greenhouse-Notetaker-Security-Privacy-FAQ
• Metaview help, Greenhouse integration (posting notes): https://support.metaview.ai/integrations/ats-integrations/greenhouse
• Metaview help, Phone Calls (phone setup, suggested script): https://support.metaview.ai/notes/capturing-calls/phone-calls
• Metaview pricing (Notetaker prices didn't load): https://www.metaview.ai/pricing
• Bluedot pricing ("CRM & ATS integrations" on Business): https://www.bluedothq.com/pricing
• Illinois General Assembly, 820 ILCS 42, Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act: https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=4015&ChapterID=68
• Illinois General Assembly, Public Act 103-0804 (HB 3773, Illinois Human Rights Act AI amendment): https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/PublicActs/View/103-0804
• NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Automated Employment Decision Tools: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/about/automated-employment-decision-tools.page
• Colorado General Assembly, SB 26-189: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb26-189
• RCFP recording guide: https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-reporters-recording-guide/
• Oregon ORS 165.540: https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_165.540

Changes

• 2026-10-26: page first written. ATS, scorecard, phone and consent claims checked on the vendor pages in Sources; law summaries from the official pages in Sources.
• 2026-10-26: Review fixes. Illinois AI Video Interview Act scope and checked dates; Illinois Human Rights Act AI amendment added; coverage hint replaced with "ask a lawyer"; scorecard column is now "Interview notes in the ATS", with feature names only; NYC enforcement date and Colorado SB 26-189 added; ATS default-notice and Fireflies past-meetings cautions added.
• 2026-10-26: standard consent block now adds that a "this call may be recorded" greeting may not tell people an AI service is transcribing or summarizing the call.
• 2026-10-26: Colorado SB 26-189 line now shows its checked date.