Understanding how and when to use ‘Help me write’ on a Chromebook [VIDEO]

Of the new features that were unveiled at Google’s latest Chromebook event, ‘Help me write’ is likely the one most people are talking about. With all the AI jargon going around these days, it can be easy to misunderstand how some of these new tools actually work, so we wanted to clarify a few things to help some of you know when it is time to fully take advantage of a new feature, and when it probably isn’t the right place to do so.

What is ‘Help me write’?

In simple terms, ‘Help me write’ is exactly what it sounds like: a tool to help you create text. But it isn’t the right tool in all scenarios where you need to write something. Instead, think of this as a feature designed for use when you are filling out smaller text fields on the web.

Need to write a review on a site, quickly make a post on social media, or send a message? ‘Help me write’ is the tool for you. And using it is as easy as a right click of the mouse or a 2-finger click on the trackpad in the text field you want to compose in. This will be a little bit meta, but here’s ‘Help me write’ in action in a text field in this post I’m writing right now:

Where it isn’t the right tool

Long story short; you can try and use ‘Help me write’ anywhere there’s a text field, but it won’t always be the right tool for the job. For instance, it won’t write a longer post like the one you are reading now. For something along those lines, you’ll need the full-blown Gemini Chat. And in certain places you attempt to use ‘Help me write’, it simply won’t appear.

Most notably, in other Google services where a writing helper is already present and baked into that particular service, ‘Help me write’ takes a back seat to the included AI. Go to Gmail for instance, and you’ll see a Gmail-specific writing assistant that is tuned more for email creation and responses. In a similar way, you’ll see a writing assistant in Docs that is mean for helping you create longer form documents as well. When these tools are present, ‘Help me write’ won’t appear on a right click action.

Where ‘Help me write’ shines

So far, I’ve found that using the rephrase option in ‘Help me write’ is the most useful part of the feature. Summarizing a story in a social media post isn’t always simple and sometimes I just need a creative boost to say a simple thing in a fresh way. I’ve been able to lean on ‘Help me write’ for this over the past couple weeks, and I really do like having it around.

But the other tools like Shorten, Elaborate, or Formalize can come in very handy as well. Maybe you just wrote a social media post and after looking back at it, you don’t love the tone or it’s just too long-winded. You can use these additional ‘Help me write’ tools right where you are and tweak the post without leaving what you are doing.

I think for most users out there, the ability to have an in-line writing assistant for quick-hit things is awesome. In the places where it works, I think many of you will find a lot of utility in ‘Help me write’ as you simply begin to remember that it is there in the first place. Like any other tool, however, you have to get into the habit of using it. And I think for a lot of folks – once they do – will find a lot to like about it.