AI Magic Compose feature to help users write messages

Google has started to roll out the beta version of the ‘Magic Compose’ feature, which uses AI (artificial intelligence) to help users write text messages.

While in beta, this feature is currently limited to users 18 years and older in English on Android phones in the US.

With this feature, Google intends to bring the power of its AI chatbot Bard to its messaging app, boosting users texting efforts, reports Android Police.

According to Google’s support page, Magic Compose appears to be limited to RCS conversations in the Messages app.

Users who have access to this feature will need to enable it from the app’s Settings menu. By tapping the pencil icon next to typed text, users will be able to use Magic Compose’s suggestions to start a chat or rewrite their message in different tones and styles.

Magic Compose currently supports seven styles -- Remix, Excited, Chill, Shakespeare, Lyrical, Formal, and Short.

However, the feature comes with a significant cation as it will send up to “20 previous messages” to Google’s servers in order to generate suggestions even if you use RCS with end-to-end encryption (E2EE).

These messages are then discarded, with Google not storing any data or using it for training its AI models.

“Up to 20 previous messages, including emojis, reactions, and URLs, are sent to Google’s servers and only used to make suggestions relevant to your conversation,” Google mentioned.