One of the powerful tools that generative AI can be extremely helpful for is email drafting, review, and improvement.
Email Drafting:
Think back to a time when you were staring at your computer screen. You knew what thoughts or message you wanted to portray but you just couldn’t seem to get the words out. Generative AI tools like GPT-3.5 can help eliminate this issue. With natural language processing and deep learning, it’s possible to generate an email draft (or elements of an email) that accurately conveys your thoughts in a concise and effective manner.
This is especially helpful for drafting emails in a handful of situations:
- Difficult email to employees / team (e.g. disciplinary, bad news, change of plans, etc.)
- Sales email to a prospect
- Response email to an upset customer
- Follow up email after a meeting or event
As mentioned in our “It’s All About the Prompts” article, the effectiveness of AI generation relies heavily on the quality of the user prompts.
There is some email management software that have AI email generation built into their email platform, but you can also use the other various generative AI chat bots. For this blog post, we will be using OpenAI’s Chat GPT (openai.com).
To prompt the generative AI effectively, provide a detailed description of the required email. The more specific you are, the better the results. Include information about:
- The recipient (e.g., employees)
- The context (e.g., explaining the company’s future use of AI to a group of apprehensive employees)
- The desired length (e.g. keep it concise, under 200 words), and
- The desired tone (e.g., professional)
- Any other specific instructions (e.g., avoid mentioning anything about job losses to AI but address employee concerns regarding AI and how it affects their work).
If you’re struggling to find the right words for your email, you can also request the AI to help you craft specific paragraphs. This way, you’ll be able to enhance the quality of your writing by optimizing word choice, sentence structure, readability, and eloquence, while still conveying the same original meaning.
For example: “Please draft me a paragraph to use an email to employees that is announcing the rollout of some AI tools that explains the basics of AI technology and its benefits to business productivity. Keep it to one paragraph, 100 words or less.”
Additionally, if you are dissatisfied with the initial email draft generated by the tool, many generative AI bots offer a “regenerate” button that provides another attempt at the given prompt.
At this point, it seems that the majority of emails generated by AI are not immediately copy and paste ready. However, they serve as excellent starting points to stimulate creativity and save time. Think of generative AI as an assistant who drafts emails for you, requiring only review and revision on your part. Like a human assistant, the AI learns your tones and preferences over time. As AI technology advances, its ability to help you craft emails and correspondence will continue to improve.
Here are some examples of some practical generative AI prompts for email drafting:
Screenshots are from Chat GPT – openai.com – Please note that I have typed in the prompt into the software. The J or T represents our prompt, and the green logo is the AI’s response.
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is intended for general informational purposes only. We do not endorse or recommend any specific technology, product, or company related to generative AI tools. It is crucial to conduct thorough research and seek professional advice before implementing any AI tools or strategies in your business. Please be mindful of data security and privacy, and carefully review the practices and policies of any AI providers or vendors you engage with.
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