A writer's block is that dreaded feeling when someone feels unable to write, often after feeling "stuck" or blank.
It’s a state of mental block that can be due to pressure, self-doubt, lack of inspiration, or even fatigue. This struggle can make even the simplest writing tasks feel overwhelming, and it’s something most writers encounter at some point. But this however, also applies to those who wish to write emails.
And Google has a solution.
And that solution is generative AI.
Here, Google has introduced shortcuts to its generative AI-based features to Gmail, and have Gemini to aid them based on their prompts.
The 'Help Me Write' feature in Gmail, which provides AI-powered assistance for composing emails, was first introduced by Google in March 2023.
This tool enhances on Gmail's earlier Smart Compose feature by allowing users to request more detailed email drafts. Part of Google’s larger generative AI integration, it was showcased at the Google I/O 2023 event, where it highlighted ways AI could assist users in drafting full emails based on short prompts.
And this time, Google is expanding this feature to Gmail on the web, allowing users to fire up Gemini to help them write their emails.
Just like on mobile, users can use text prompts to use the feature when opening a blank draft in Gmail.
"When using Gemini to refine emails, users can choose from the following options: Formalize, Elaborate and Shorten," said Google in a blog post.
"We recently added the Polish option to web and mobile, which can effortlessly refine your emails, saving you time. For example, if you enter rough notes into a draft, Gemini can turn the content into a completely formal draft, ready for you to review in one click."
In addition to generating an email draft, Help Me Write can also provide suggestions on how to formalize, elaborate, or shorten a message.
Additionally, Google is also introducing 'Refine My Draft' shortcut that can appear below the email content to indicate that there are options available to Polish, Formalize, Elaborate, or Shorten your draft, or Write a new draft.
And here, the notable one is the Polish shortcut.
Available on both the web and mobile should come in handy when users need to refine emails even faster.
On web, whereas the Help Me Write shortcut should appear in the body of the email when an email draft is empty, the Polish shortcut should appear only for drafts that have 12+ words.
Users can access it by pressing the shortcut text, or typing Ctrl+H to automatically show a polished email output.
In another blog post, Google said that swiping on the shortcut text will automatically show a polished email output.
From there, users can tap a refinement chip (Formalize, Elaborate or Shorten) to edit the draft in place.