Google has introduced a new AI-powered feature called Help Me Write in the mobile version of Gmail, enabling users to compose emails more efficiently on their phones. The announcement was made during the recent Google I/O conference, where developers unveiled various AI tools that will be available to users across the company's services.
The Help Me Write tool is based on neural network technology and was previously available for testing in the desktop version of Gmail. Now, this feature has been expanded to the mobile versions of Gmail for both Android and iOS devices. Users can leverage Help Me Write to edit already composed emails, allowing them to condense lengthy messages, make them more formal, or adopt a more casual tone.
For users who are short on time and need assistance in writing a complete email, they can provide a prompt, and the AI algorithm will generate a detailed message based on that prompt. The resulting text can then be manually edited or refined using the assistant's options.
The new Help Me Write feature builds upon Google's previous AI-powered email tools, such as Smart Compose and Smart Reply. While Smart Reply offers basic automated responses and Smart Compose provides suggestions as users type, Help Me Write goes a step further by creating full emails from simple prompts.
To start using Help Me Write in Gmail, users need to join Google's Workspace Labs program, which allows them to utilize AI capabilities in composing text in Gmail and Google Docs. By visiting labs.withgoogle.com and signing up for the program, users gain access to the Help Me Write icon—a pencil with a star above it—which appears when drafting a new email in Gmail or creating a document in Google Docs.
Clicking on the Help Me Write button opens a prompt window where users can describe what they want the AI to write. Examples of prompts include "A glowing review for a team member" or "Wish my friend a speedy recovery in the hospital." After entering the prompt and clicking "Create," Help Me Write generates the text. Once satisfied, users can insert the text into their email and further edit it as desired.