Google Messages is one of the best apps for chatting, thanks to features such as Smart Reply that recommends replies based on the conversation’s subject. But an upcoming feature may do a lot more. Google is working on integrating generative AI into the Messages app through a feature called ‘Magic Compose’. This feature, as the name suggests, can write replies on your behalf. They could be full meaningful sentences based on the conversation, a poem, or a song — almost similar to a human’s responses.
According to 9to5Google, generative AI-powered Magic Compose will be similar to the “Help me write” feature available in Google Docs and Gmail. Its name is different because Google wanted to make its generative AI feature for consumer-centric Messages app friendlier than its counterparts for Workspace-related apps. But the name fits the attributes of the feature.
Magic Compose’s magic
Magic Compose can create replies on your behalf, depending on the given context of the conversation or something suggested by you. That essentially means you can ask Magic Compose to write a reply in a poem style or in the English language used during the Shakespearean times. Screenshots of an early preview of the feature shared by 9to5Google show the kind of replies Magic Compose is potentially capable of offering. Apart from few-worded replies like “On it!,” “I’ll be over in a sec,” and “I’ll bring the chalk,” Magic Compose can create replies based on moods such as ‘Chill’, ‘Excited’, ‘Formal’, and ‘Lyrical’ among others. The ‘Lyrical’ mood writes replies in the style of song lyrics.
Magic Compose as available in the beta version of the Google Messages app. (9to5Google)
A sparkling pencil icon is what denotes Magic Compose in the current version — it may or may not change in the final version. Magic Compose is available in Google Message settings on the same page as existing Smart Reply and Nudges, according to the report. It bears the “Experiment” label — much like Bard AI — to let you know it is an experimental feature and is in development. That gives Magic Compose some leeway in terms of making accidental errors, similar to how Bard AI did. Google has also clarified that Magic Compose requires an internet connection to work at the bottom of the page. This makes the feature even more different from Smart Reply and others, which run locally on the phone.
How to access Magic Compose
Magic Compose may still not be entirely ready, but it is good enough for users who are willing to enrol themselves on the beta testing programme of Google Messages. To do that, go to Play Store on your phone and join the beta programme to be able to access Magic Compose, as well as several other features that are part of testing.
