How To Use Google Chrome's Experimental AI Feature To Help You Write
Google is one of the top companies investing heavily in efforts to grow artificial intelligence and make it more widely available. Recently, the tech conglomerate rebranded Google Bard AI into Gemini, updating the chatbot's capabilities to make it one of the most advanced AIs on the market. And the company didn't stop there. Google recently added generative AI features to Chrome, allowing users to organize their tabs, create custom browser themes, and get help writing online.
While the first two features aim to make web browsing easier and more personalized, Chrome's new writing feature, dubbed "Help me write," is designed to help someone who is struggling to put their thoughts into words. Whatever the reason, whether it's replying to a comment on Reddit, leaving a review, or posting an item for sale, Google said "Help me write" is designed to help people sound more confident online. One key benefit is that Google's AI will pull information from the site you're viewing to boost the validity of your text.
"Help me write" is now available on Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs through updates to the latest version of Chrome. So, let's break down how to access Google's latest AI feature for those interested in improving their online writing.
How to turn on AI features
While we'd all love to open Google Chrome and jump right into using its new AI features like "Help me write," there are a few requirements you'll need to meet before doing so. First, the feature is only available for Chrome users in the United States, and you'll need to be at least 18 years old, have your browser's language set to English, and be signed in to a Google account.
Another requirement is having "Make searches and browsing better" activated, which sends Google the URLs of pages you visit "to improve your browsing experience and security." Follow these steps:
- On a computer, open Chrome.
- Click the three vertical dots in the top right corner.
- Click Settings (at the bottom), then "You and Google."
- Click "Sync and Google services," and turn on "Make searches and browsing better."
Unfortunately, that's not the end. You'll also need to then turn on Experimental AI in your browser. In your Chrome settings, click "Experimental AI" from the categories on the left side of the screen and turn on "Try out experimental AI features."
Once activated, you'll see toggle switches for each of Google's new features. Just make sure "Help me write" is turned on. Whether you want to keep "Tab organizer" and "Create themes with AI" on is up to you. Turning them off won't affect "Help me write."
How to use Help me write
With all the requirements out of the way, your Chrome Browser is now ready to use Google's new AI features, including "Tab organizer," "Create themes with AI," and "Help me write."
Here's how to use "Help me write":
- On your computer, open Chrome.
- Go to a website that features text boxes. Social media sites are a great option to experiment with.
- Right-click on an open text field. There doesn't need to be existing text in the box, but if you want to rewrite it, highlight the text you want to rewrite and then right-click on it.
- Select "Help me write" from the right-click pop-up menu. If this is your first time using the feature, you'll need to click "OK" when prompted.
- In the "Help me write" box, enter your prompt. It can be a phrase, question, instruction, or sentence. Anything to help you get started writing. (If you highlight text, it will automatically enter that text into the box.)
- When finished, select "Create."
- Use the dropdown menus to select the length of tone of your AI-generated response.
- Select "Insert" or "Replace," depending on if you entered text before using the feature.
You can also rate the quality of your AI-generated responses by clicking the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icons at the bottom of the "Help me write" box. This will send feedback to Google to help improve the new AI feature.