Sometimes it helps to get another pair of eyes to polish your emails, and if you're the type of person who appreciates some extra help, Google announced on Tuesday that you can now use its Gemini artificial intelligence writing tool to tweak your email drafts.
This isn't the search giant's first attempt. Google already had a Help Me Write feature for creating emails with generative AI, but the company has improved on it. To fine-tune your message, you can choose from options like Formalize, Elaborate, and Shorten, but it also adds a Polish option for web and mobile that polishes your message and takes rough notes from a draft document and converts them into a formal message for review.
On mobile, you'll now see a Help Me Write shortcut in the body of your email that, when selected, unlocks access to the feature.
Read more: Gmail AI can now compose emails on your phone: Here's how it works
How does Google's polish feature work?
Once your draft contains 12 or more words, the Improve Draft shortcut appears, letting you choose from the Shorten, Format, Elaborate, or Correct options.
These options are only available to Google Workspace customers with Gemini Business and Enterprise add-ons, Gemini Education and Education Premium add-ons, or Google One AI Premium. For these customers, the feature is turned on by default.
Do you have any concerns about using Gemini AI?
But we need to be careful where we use AI capabilities. It may be appropriate for a business email, but a personal note needs a more personal touch. Google recently came under fire for a TV commercial that aired during the Paris Olympics, in which a father claimed his daughter had used an AI to write letters to her favorite Olympians. Many viewers correctly pointed out that it was a chilling idea that took away the charm of a child's candid feelings and handed what was meant to be a touching letter over to an AI.
Screenshot/James Martin/CNET
“I don't know about what you think, but I'd like to call this a major parental failing,” CNET's Connie Guglielmo wrote in a commentary. “The reason we sometimes revel in the fan letters our kids write to their heroes is because, in their heartfelt handwritten letters and quirky crayon drawings, they can express such charming, sincere, and imperfect homages. Do we really want to encourage our kids to stop writing and drawing for themselves because it has to be 'perfect' that apparently only an AI can produce?”
Google told Guglielmo that the ad had tested well before it aired (it didn't say who it was for), but that it was being pulled from its Olympic broadcasts after receiving negative feedback.
Screenshot/James Martin/CNET
Gemini (formerly Bird) is an AI chatbot from Google that was released in March 2023 and is intended to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Gemini and other AIs have been accused of hallucinating or falsifying facts, so users should be wary and cannot simply rely on their information. The Help Me Writing AI feature became available in June 2023.
