Sorry, I'm in a meeting
This clever website plays realistic, AI-generated meeting audio, acting as a digital 'boss key' to help users reclaim focus time. It's a humorous yet practical commentary on modern corporate meeting culture, resonating deeply with tech professionals' perennial struggle against time-sucking calls. The discussion reflects a widespread frustration with meeting overload and innovative workarounds.
The Lowdown
Fleeting offers a tongue-in-cheek solution to the modern workplace bane: too many meetings. It generates plausible, AI-synthesized meeting audio to help users appear occupied and ward off interruptions, effectively creating a digital 'do not disturb' sign.
- Core Functionality: Plays 12-minute long, AI-generated audio of various meeting types (e.g., "Scoping," "API Design Review") that start at random points and can loop or transition to a "back-to-back" meeting.
- "Boss Key" for the Modern Era: Users can block out their calendar with a fake meeting that links back to the site, allowing them to appear busy before being asked to join another call.
- User Interface: Presents a video call-like interface with AI-generated faces. Features like "Leave" or "I have to drop" end the call convincingly, with simulated goodbyes from participants.
- Monetization & Evolution: Initially included AdSense, but the creator disabled it during the HN discussion in response to feedback, humorously noting that "adverts can sneak into the meetings" via the scripts themselves.
- Technical Details: All voices are synthetic, and the faces are AI-generated or licensed stock footage. No real meetings are recorded; every name is invented except for John Carroll, the site's creator, who sometimes "sits in with his camera off."
Fleeting taps into a widespread desire for uninterrupted focus time, providing a humorous yet effective workaround for those battling meeting fatigue.
The Gossip
Boss Key's Big Comeback
Many users immediately drew parallels between Fleeting and the nostalgic "boss key" feature found in old PC games, which would instantly switch the screen to a fake spreadsheet or work-like interface to hide gaming from supervisors. The general consensus is that this classic concept has found a new, modern form perfectly suited for the remote and hybrid work environment, where digital presence is key to managing perceptions of busyness.
Meeting Mayhem & Managerial Maneuvers
A significant portion of the discussion revolved around the universal frustration with excessive, often unproductive meetings and the creative lengths people (and even managers) go to reclaim focus time. Commenters shared anecdotes of managers strategically blocking out team calendars to create 'focus time,' or even inventing 'virtual employees' for on-call duties to shield their teams. This highlighted a widespread systemic issue within corporate culture, where tactics like Fleeting become necessary tools for survival.
Synthetic Sounds & Scripted Speeches
While appreciated for its concept, many users critiqued the AI-generated audio for its realism, noting its "AI slop speak" and lack of natural conversational elements like "umms," pauses, or people talking over each other. This led to suggestions for making the audio more believable, such as adding specific corporate jargon or more diverse accents beyond the initially predominant British ones. The creator was responsive, noting initial browser compatibility issues for non-British accents and taking feedback for future improvements.
Premium vs. Proxies: The Adblocker Allegiance
The site's initial (and quickly disabled) inclusion of AdSense unexpectedly sparked a lengthy and passionate debate about ad-blocking. This tangent quickly expanded to a broader discussion on YouTube Premium, the ethics of ad-blocking, and whether paying for ad-free services grants a 'moral or logical high ground.' Opinions were sharply divided, touching on issues of privacy, content creator support, corporate exploitation, and the value proposition of ad-supported versus subscription models.