The smartest way to use AI at work
Coolest Trick: Summarize lengthy email threads. Do: Add your own touches to drafts so they sound more natural. Don’t: Use vague prompts that go nowhere—and don’t overdo the proofreading tools. Email is annoying, but it isn’t going away. AI can make responding to messages easier.
Using a free version of Microsoft Copilot or Google’s Gemini chatbots, prompt the tool to write words of encouragement, a time-off request or some other email premise. In seconds, you’ll get a workable, if bland, draft. Based on our tests, ChatGPT Plus delivered impressive results on the first try.
The free ChatGPT did fine, but gave less detail than its subscription counterpart. To get AI inside your email service, you or your employer has to pay. For $20 a month, Copilot Pro lets Outlook users draft, proofread and reply to emails, and summarize long email threads.
If your company pays for Microsoft’s enterprise version, Copilot can reference files saved in your corporate cloud. The Google One AI Premium plan, also $20 a month, integrates Google Gemini in personal Gmail accounts. Email thread summarization is coming soon, but for now, the Help Me Write feature helps you draft and tweak emails.
We got better results entering prompts in the stand-alone Gemini chatbot. For $30 a month, or $144 a year, Grammarly’s premium generative-AI service can appear in most text windows on your Windows or Mac computer. You can write prompts, personalize your voice and set your preferences for later.
SAMPLE PROMPT: Write an email to my direct report, Steve, asking him to find time on my calendar to discuss the projects he’ll work on while I’m away next week. Write in a friendly but assertive way and keep it short, no more than two paragraphs. Coolest Trick:
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