Meeting notes
How do I summarize a week of handwritten meeting notes with AI?
Updated
Short answer: give the AI all the week's pages, then ask for decisions, open questions and action items by person, not for a "summary". Claude and ChatGPT both read handwriting.
The hard part is getting a week of handwritten pages in front of the assistant. With Margen on a Boox, the pages are already there, and the whole review is one prompt on Friday afternoon.
Step 1: get the week's pages to the assistant
Without a connected notes app
Export the week's pages as one PDF (or photograph each page), attach them to a chat in Claude or ChatGPT, and ask it to transcribe first. Check the transcription for names and numbers before you ask for the summary: a misread name becomes a wrong owner in your action list.
With Margen
Write your meeting notes in Margen on your Boox. Each page is transcribed when the tablet is online, with a title and a one-line summary. Connect Claude (any plan, from its connector directory) or ChatGPT (paid, at https://connector.getmargen.app/mcp) once, and the assistant can list your notes from the last seven days and read them itself. Nothing to export.
Step 2: ask for structure, not a summary
"Summarize my week" gets you a paragraph. A weekly review needs things you can act on. Copy this:
"Read all my notes from Monday to today. For each meeting, give me: who was there, what we decided, and what is still open. Then one list of action items grouped by person, with the note each one came from. Flag anything that looks like a deadline."
More prompts
- "Which decisions this week contradict something I wrote earlier this month?"
- "What did I say I would do this week that I haven't mentioned again?"
- "Write a five-line update for my manager from this week's notes. Plain, no adjectives."
- "Turn Tuesday's product meeting into an email to the people who were there."
- "Which topics took up most of my meetings this week?"
Habits that make the summary better
- One meeting per page, with a first line like "Pricing review, 14 Oct, Ana + Tom". Margen often turns that line into the note's title, and the assistant can tell meetings apart.
- Mark actions the same way every time: a box, an arrow, "TODO", initials. Tell the assistant your convention once: "lines starting with → are actions".
- Ask it to check the page image for a sketch or a table that doesn't survive as text.
Questions
Can AI summarize handwritten meeting notes?
Yes. Claude and ChatGPT read handwriting from images and PDFs. With Margen on a Boox, the pages are transcribed in the background and the assistant can read a whole week of notes without any upload.
What should I ask for in a weekly summary?
Ask for decisions, open questions and action items grouped by person, with the note each item came from, instead of a general summary.
Can the AI tell which notes are from this week?
With Margen, yes: the assistant can list your recent notes and pick the ones from the period you name.
Is it safe to put work meetings through AI?
Margen's pages are transcribed only by model providers that don't store or train on them, and the connector is read-only. Check your employer's policy on AI tools for work notes.