Gmailalready offers a bunch of AI-based features that help you quickly draft your emails. While in-line suggestions have been around for a long time,Gmail recently got the ability to draft emailson your behalf using AI with simple prompts, as you can do with ChatGPT andBard. This feature is part of a limited experiment, but Google is adding a new way to get Gmail to draft your emails by simply asking it on the Android app.
Help Me Writewas introduced last year when Google added a bunch of AI-enabled features to its Workspace apps. Under Workspace Labs, Gmail picked up the ability to draft emails with simple written prompts. You can ask it to write a cover letter or a quick note to get in touch with an old friend — and it works on both the web and the Android app. But you had to type out your request for Gmail to work its magic.
The prolific tinkerer AssembleDebug recentlydiscovereda new way to interact with Gmail’s Help Me Write feature. Right now, both on the web and on Android, you get a button to type your prompt, after which the app can generate an email draft for you. But soon, Google will let you do that without typing at all. You just need to use your voice to tell Gmail what you want in your email, and it will generate a draft for you.
Source:AssembleDebug
As shown in the screenshots above, you’ll see a Draft email with voice button right above the keyboard to enter your query on the app. You won’t see the button just yet because this isn’t a publicly available feature, and the leaker could activate it using a flag in Gmail. They further point out that the feature was first added back in October 2023, so it can’t be said for sure exactly when it will be rolled out to all Workspace Labs users.
It’s worth noting that Workspace Labs itself has pretty limited reach right now. It is available only for select users with US English set as their preferred language in a few countries. Those who fit the bill can try out the included features, including Help Me Write. But keep in mind that while your data is secure with Gmail for businesses, Google can and does use your prompts and the text its AI generates to further improve its models.
Help Me Write is part ofGoogle Duet AI, which is available for Workspace users at an additional monthly fee. Besides creating drafts in Gmail, you may use it for creating documents inGoogle Docs, crunching numbers in Sheets, and even generating images in Slides.
