Wannabe copywriters who struggle to get their ad copy into shape are to be given a helping hand from a new Microsoft Word feature which it is claimed will transform their work from mumbo jumbo into highly crafted prose.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the new “Ideas” program uses artificial intelligence to suggest rewrites for clunky sentences as well as changes to ensure language is “gender inclusive”.
Announced at Microsoft’s Build developer conference in Seattle, the system will also help users lay out different parts of a document, including tables, and suggest synonyms and alternative phrases to make writing more concise.
Initially it will only be available to users of Word Online. A test version of Ideas will go live next month, with a roll-out planned for the autumn.
In a blogpost to explain the changes, Microsoft said: “Writing requires a dash of uniquely human creativity. Artificial intelligence alone cannot do it for us, at least not very well. But AI can – and already is – helping us do things like make sure we spell words correctly and use correct grammar.
“As the AI in these products is becoming more sophisticated, they are helping us do more than spot a mis-spelled word.”
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