• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, September 1, 2023

Gmail users now have an AI tool for writing email messages: Duet AI. Whether this will help email marketing teams write bulk emails is not yet clear. 

“We’re introducing AI-powered writing features that help you quickly refine existing work or get you started with something new in Google Docs and Gmail using Duet AI for Google Workspace,” Google announced in a post. 

Duet AI for Google Workspace is being offered to large companies for $30 a month. The price for smaller users has not yet been reported. 

A link states that this feature is currently available on desktop. Google is offering it to those with the Duet AI for Google Workspace Enterprise add-on.  

Within Google Docs, the user can get started by pushing the “Help me write” prompt.  

What does it do? Google claims that the tool allows users to: 

- Write their draft 

- Formalize their draft

- Elaborate on their draft

- Shorten their draft 

I’m feeling lucky — this allows you to introduce fun variations in tone and content. 

Observers note that this suite competes with Microsoft’s Copilot.

Of course, experience will show how effective this writing tool is. A small business with a limited customer base might use it to draft and send out offers. But would it suffice for enterprise personalization with its myriad variations?   

Google points out: “Whether you’re a recruiter drafting a customized job description or an account executive drafting a sales pitch, Help me write saves you the time and effort of writing the first version of a document by enabling you to focus on bringing your ideas to life instead of conquering a blank page.” 

It adds: “We’re also combining the power of smart canvas with Help me write by weaving smart chips, variables, and building blocks into generated content. This combination will help if you need to include information like status or add variables for details you’d want to customize like your teammate’s names, job titles and more.”

This is just the beginning.