Today I noticed that Gmail will help with composing an email, or edit/rewrite an email after it is written. I tried the rewrite feature and it wasn’t terrible. The AI preferred “reach out” to my preference of “contact” (e.g., I’m contacting you regarding…) in typical business correspondence. It also added some enthusiasm that I didn’t want. But, even though I kept my version of the email, I did include some of the suggested edits.
I have also noticed that Gmail has a feature that will summarize an email thread in a few bullet points. So we have reached the end: AI can write your email, and AI can read your responses.
At this point, I would argue that we should just change the rules of email. We should all understand that a an email consisting of a brief list of points – imperfectly written – is essentially taking the AI out of the loop. That is, we can just cut to the chase and write brief, to the point emails (i.e., the AI summaries) and cut out the AI middle man.
And to be clear, this writing is all mine.