Iceland launches AI Knittakers to give workers an hour back

Ever sat through a meeting that could have been an email? Visit Iceland has launched AI Knittakers (Authentic Icelandic Knittakers), a distinctly Icelandic answer to the AI notetaker now embedded in many online meetings.

The new, free bookable service lets people send a real authentic Icelandic knitter to attend an online meeting in their place, giving them time back to focus on work, take a proper break, step away from their screens or perhaps head to Iceland.

The launch follows new research commissioned by Visit Iceland among 4,000 office workers which found that workers spend just under 8 hours per month in meetings they consider unnecessary or avoidable. While a further 63% agreed that many of the meetings they attend could have been an email.

From 29 October to 20 November, AI Knittakers will put their needles to work to solve a very modern problem; endless online meetings giving people an hour back in their working day.

In Iceland, knitting is part of everyday life, a way to relax, socialise and create. The lopapeysa, the country's distinctive patterned jumper made from lopi wool, is one of Iceland's most recognisable garments, and it is not unusual to see people knitting them in homes, cafés and even meetings.

Joining live on camera from farmhouse kitchens, harbour towns, waterfalls and by geothermal pools across Iceland, each Knittaker will bring a glimpse of their surroundings and daily life directly into the meeting, offering a small window onto what life can look like when not every hour is given over to another meeting.

Where an AI notetaker captures what is said, an AI Knittaker will read the room, notice the loaded pauses, reactions, ideas and disagreements before choosing the meeting's one-word summary and knit it in Icelandic wool.

That final summary might be PIVOT, ALIGN, RESET or UNMUTE. Perhaps BLA BLA or HUH? Or, when the meeting really calls for it, WTF?

Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir, spokesperson for Visit Iceland, said: "It's easy to assume that every modern problem needs a technological answer. In Iceland, we've found that some of the best answers are the simplest ones: a little more time, a little more nature, and people who really listen to each other."

"In Iceland, we understand the value of time outside work, and we know that time given back is never wasted. With AI Knittakers, we're sharing a little of that Icelandic perspective with the world, and we hope it inspires people to step away from their screens and perhaps come and experience Iceland for themselves."

AI Knittakers will be available to book for free from 29 October to 20 November 2026 at AIKnittaker.com. Visitors can meet the Knittakers, explore the locations they will be joining from and book one to attend their next meeting.

Meeting organisers in the US and Europe can also opt to have the original hand-knitted summary, made in Icelandic wool and posted to them.