‘Help me write’ in Gmail: How to use AI to write better emails

Google’s AI suite took on a massive expansion with I/O 2023 when the company announced Duet AI and the AI tools within. Gmail’s “Help me write” feature utilizes AI to compose well-written emails to send to whomever you’d need to. Here’s how to use it.

At the time of writing this, Google still hasn’t released the Gmail AI feature to the public in full, which essentially bars you from accessing it without signing up to be a tester. Fortunately, becoming a tester is easy and free, requiring just a couple of clicks.

1. Head to labs.google.com.
2. Scroll to the Google Workspace section.
3. Hit Join waitlist and complete the process.

The features found in Google’s Labs suite typically don’t take long to activate once you’ve signed up. Those changes are also server-side, which means you shouldn’t need to update Gmail for the AI function to appear.

In fact, we tested to make sure Google was still letting new testers in and saw the “Help me write” feature instantly appear on a secondary account.

How to use AI in Gmail to write for you

So long as you complete the process above, you should see a new button in Gmail that reads, “Help me write.” To access it, just hit compose and begin the process of writing a new email. The button should appear in the bottom-right corner when composing a new email. That’s your ticket to letting AI take the wheel.

1. Hit Help me write.
2. Tell Google’s AI – as naturally as possible – what you want the email to accomplish.
3. Tap Create.

The language model Gmail uses is effective at taking natural prompts and building them out in the manner that you choose. That manner could be professional, casual, or humorous. For instance, a good prompt would be, “Ask Delta Airlines for a refund on my flight because something unexpected came up.”

Once it generates a response, you have two options – insert it or try again. Once the text is inserted, you’ll be able to edit it to your liking, though if you need to change too much, you should probably just run it through again with a modified prompt.

The language model will insert contextual nuances for you in some cases, as well. For instance, in this fake example, Gmail’s AI function included an acknowledgment of Delta’s 24-hour cancellation policy, which may actually improve the chances of a refund. You should double-check that type of extra information, though, because AI-generated text isn’t always accurate.

Whatever you need to write, Gmail’s “Help me write” button is up for the challenge and will only get better as more people use it to compose emails.