If you’re an avid user of Smart Compose in Gmail, you may be interested to know that the handy autocomplete feature is coming to G Suite’s Docs, with a beta version already available for some users.
If Smart Compose passed you by, the A.I.-powered feature aims to speed up your typing by offering up phrases — right in the body of the email — that are based on your writing style. It can also help to reduce spelling and grammar errors in your text.
When you see a phrase pop up that you were about to type, or that fits well with what you were about to say, then you can quickly drop it in before continuing to compose your message.
As a simple example, you might start typing, “Haven’t seen … ” at which point Smart Compose could offer to complete it with “you in a while.” Or, say, if you’re contacting someone about an upcoming event, the feature will probably suggest phrases regarding time of day or the location, and use the kind of appropriate language that you’d expect with an invitation.
While emails may generally be more relaxed and less formal in terms of the kind of language used, Smart Compose for Docs will need to consider more complex writing styles and terminology, which is most likely why the feature hasn’t yet properly arrived for Google’s browser-based, Word-like software.
Smart Compose launched for the desktop version of Gmail in 2018 before coming to some Android devices earlier this year. Of course, if you find the constant appearance of suggested phrases irritating, or you’d prefer to use your brain while you’re composing your message rather than let Google write half of it for you, you can always turn the feature off in your device’s settings.
Google hasn’t said when it hopes to release a public version of Smart Compose for Docs, but a beta version (English only for the time being) is available for G Suite administrators to try right now.
If you’re interested to learn more about how to use the Smart Compose feature for Gmail, take a moment to cast your eyes over this short guide from Digital Trends.