Meta-owned WhatsApp today launched Writing Help, a writing tool powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to help you compose messages faster.
Available in individual and group chats, it uses Meta’s Private Processing technology to make your AI interactions private with end-to-end encryption, so that no one, including Meta and WhatsApp, can read your message or the suggested rewrites.
The Writing Help feature creates a couple of alternative phrasings for your message, based on one of the five writing tones you can choose from. According to the announcement on the WhatsApp blog, the new writing tool doesn’t scan your entire conversation history and is an opt-in feature.
WhatsApp launches an AI-powered writing tool
To use Writing Help, you must first turn on Private Processing in the Chats > Private Processing section of the WhatsApp settings. Then when you type your message in the text input box at the bottom of the mobile app, you may see a pen symbol in the chat bar. This indicates that AI-powered writing suggestions are available for you.
Tapping this pencil icon opens a new interface where you can explore alternative phrasings, request changes to structure, tone and clarity, and more.
There are five tones to choose from:
- Rephrase
- Professional
- Funny
- Supportive
- Proofread
You can choose to make additional edits before sending. When you send a message, the recipient will see no indication that you cheated by using AI to compose it. The AI assistant is turned off by default in WhatsApp for iOS and Android. For further information about Writing Help, peruse the WhatsApp Help.
Other AI features in WhatsApp
Meta has also brought other AI-powered features to WhatsApp users, including message summaries in the United States. Currently available in English, with additional countries and languages coming later, this feature allows you to create a summary of unread messages in a chat with a tap of a button, giving you a rough idea of what’s happening before actually reading unread messages.
You can also create AI wallpapers in WhatsApp from short descriptions. These are in addition to the built-in backdrops available in the Chats > Default Chat Theme section of the WhatsApp settings. The team is also working on the ability to create AI-generated profile photos and chat group icons using text prompts.
Meta removes Apple Intelligence from its mobile apps
In April, Meta disabled the Apple Intelligence features like Writing Tools and Genmoji in the Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Threads and Messenger mobile apps. Instead, the company has integrated its own AI chatbot into these apps. Apple’s developer documentation states that developers can freely block the use of the Apple Intelligence features in their apps, should they wish to do so.
However, web-based versions of Meta’s apps still support Apple Intelligence; you can compose your posts with Apple’s Writing Tools on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger in a web browser.