Gmail Help Me Write announced at Google I/O 2023 — and it writes entire emails for you

Image of Gmail's logo on a laptop
(Image credit: Monticello/Shutterstock)

The AI is the mightier than the sword. Google today announced a new feature for Gmail that will allow the email app to write full emails on your behalf. 

The new feature, called Help Me Write, was announced today (May 10) at Google I/O 2023. It's somewhat of a supercharged extension of the existing Smart Compose feature, which can automatically add a short phrase to a reply based on the email you've received.

Help Me Write will allow you to create an entire email out of whole cloth, based on inputs you provide to Gmail.

In the example shown at Google I/O, Gmail created an email asking to get a full refund from an airline for a flight, based on data that it pulled from an email from the airline.

After the email is crafted, you then have the option of refining the message using a dropdown menu with several options: Formalize, Elaborate, Shorten, and I’m Feeling Lucky.

Help Me Write has been available for trusted testers with Google Docs and Gmail since March, was just one of the Google Workspace features announced at Google I/O that's getting a boost from the company's generative AI. 

Other improvements will include one for Sheets. Google demonstrated how its AI could generate a table for a dog-walking business that can schedule appointments, complete with client information. 

For Slides, Google's AI could analyze the various slides of a presentation and come up with talking points for each, helpful if you're trying to put together a slideshow at the last minute.

Both the Slides and Sheets AI helpers are being rolled out to trusted users in June. Google did not set a timetable for when any of them would be available to Google users at large.

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Mike Prospero
U.S. Editor-in-Chief, Tom's Guide

Michael A. Prospero is the U.S. Editor-in-Chief for Tom’s Guide. He oversees all evergreen content and oversees the Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories for the site. In his spare time, he also tests out the latest drones, electric scooters, and smart home gadgets, such as video doorbells. Before his tenure at Tom's Guide, he was the Reviews Editor for Laptop Magazine, a reporter at Fast Company, the Times of Trenton, and, many eons back, an intern at George magazine. He received his undergraduate degree from Boston College, where he worked on the campus newspaper The Heights, and then attended the Columbia University school of Journalism. When he’s not testing out the latest running watch, electric scooter, or skiing or training for a marathon, he’s probably using the latest sous vide machine, smoker, or pizza oven, to the delight — or chagrin — of his family.

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