Shortwave enhances email experience with AI-powered summaries, writing assistance, and multi-select actions.
Shortwave, an innovative email client developed by former Google engineers, is set to revolutionize email management with its new AI-powered features. Building on its AI capabilities, Shortwave introduces instant summaries that automatically display at the top of emails, offering users a quick gist of the content. This feature is an evolution from last year’s introduction of AI-powered summaries, which required manual activation. The new instant summary, crafted in one concise sentence, aims to streamline email processing, especially when dealing with multiple messages.
The company leverages open-source models and its GPUs for short summaries, while the more detailed summaries are generated using GPT-4 Turbo. This blend of technology ensures efficient and accurate summarization at a reduced cost. Shortwave’s ambition doesn’t stop there. It extends the AI-powered Assistant feature, first launched in September 2023, to its iOS and Android apps. This assistant aids in drafting emails, searching the web, and providing thread-specific answers, enhancing productivity and convenience for mobile users.
Additionally, Shortwave introduces an AI multiselect option, allowing users to select multiple threads and interact with the assistant for collective insights. This feature is particularly beneficial for organizing and querying emails by topic or sender. Complementing these features, Shortwave also debuts its AI-powered autocomplete, similar to Gmail’s smart autocomplete, but with a focus on generating longer sentences that match the user’s writing style. Co-founder Andrew Lee likens it to a “GitHub Copilot for emails.”
These features, rolling out to users starting this week, aim to redefine email interaction. While the instant summary, AI multiselect, and mobile assistant are available to all users, the AI autocomplete is exclusive to Pro and Business plan users. The company’s recent shift in pricing structure reflects its focus on catering to business and enterprise users, emphasizing AI’s role in streamlining email communication.