Hands-on with Google's Duet AI writing aid: a stiff style, inaccurate information, inconsistent Docs and Gmail behavior, great at drafting complaints, and more
Paresh Dave / Wired : Tweets: @wired Tweets: @wired : Help Me Write is the first of a slew of generative AI features Google has planned for its productivity suite, under the umbrella branding of Duet AI for Workspace. We spent a few days testing it in Gmail and Google Docs. Here's what we found... https://www.wired.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Two months after Google's March 2023 announcement of AI features across Workspace, this is the first extended test of what shipped: Help Me Write, the lead feature under the new Duet AI for Workspace branding, tried in Gmail and Google Docs over several days. The verdict matters because Google framed it as the first of a slew of generative features for the suite — this review sets the baseline every later addition gets measured against.
The arc since has been one of iteration on exactly the flaws found here: a Gemini-powered "Help me write" version reached Chrome in early 2024, Gemini-era drafting tools rolled across Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive by 2026, and Google is now testing a voice-driven drafting tool, Docs Live, for paid AI tiers.
First-order effects
- Workspace users testing Help Me Write in Gmail and Docs get uneven value today: a stiff writing style and inaccurate information undermine trust, while complaint drafts are the standout use case.
- Google's flagship Duet AI debut lands with inconsistent behavior between Docs and Gmail, meaning the same feature works differently depending on which app opens it — an immediate support and expectation problem for Google.
Second-order effects
- The documented gaps push Google to iterate fast and rebrand: the tool resurfaces within a year as a Gemini-powered Chrome extension and later as broader Gemini capabilities across Workspace, each release implicitly answering this review's criticisms.
- Rivals bundling AI into office suites now have a public benchmark of where Google's first attempt fell short — factual accuracy and cross-app consistency become the comparison points reviewers apply to competing assistants.
Third-order effects
- If the trajectory from Help Me Write through the Gemini rollout to Docs Live continues, Google's productivity apps shift from text boxes toward conversational drafting surfaces — with subscription tiers (AI Pro and Ultra) gating the most capable versions.
- Persistent accuracy problems in embedded writing aids point to a structural trust tax on AI-drafted workplace communication: businesses adopting these features inherit verification work that offsets part of the drafting time saved.
The trend: Productivity suites are being rebuilt around embedded generative drafting — reviewed incrementally, rebranded with each model generation, and increasingly gated behind paid AI tiers.