Google’s new Help Me Write tool promises to draft your emails

In the five decades since its invention, email has completely revolutionized the way we communicate, but it’s also become sort of a drag. Many of our menial tasks — like booking a pet sitter, contacting a doctor for medical records or asking for refunds from retailers — have turned email into drudgery.

Gmail is adding a new feature aimed at taking the pain out of crafting boring emails. At Wednesday’s Google I/O event, CEO Sundar Pichai announced Help Me Write. Powered by the company’s proprietary AI, the new Google service will draft automated messages for you in Gmail, text messages and other Google apps.

With 1.8 billion active users of Gmail at the last count, Help Me Write is poised to have a major impact on the way that the world communicates via email. Learn more about how Help Me Write works and when it will be available to use in Gmail and other Google software.

For more on Google I/O, learn all about the foldable Pixel phone and the biggest new features announced for Android.

Whereas Smart Reply offers basic automated replies, and Smart Compose provides suggestions as you type, Help Me Write will go well beyond, creating a full email from a basic prompt. A “refine” button can shorten the text, elaborate or make the email more formal. You can then further edit the email manually or send it as is.

In his demo at Google I/O, Pichai used Help Me Write to draft an email asking for a full refund from an airline for a canceled flight. Help Me Write created an email from scratch using information gleaned from the airline’s emailed offer of a voucher.

When will Help Me Write be available to all Gmail users?

Help Me Write has been used by Google Docs and Gmail testers since March, and a similar group of Google testers will start using AI helpers for Google Sheets and Google Slides in June.