Microsoft is planning to add the text prediction feature to Word starting next month. The new feature will work similarly to the existing predictions feature seen in Google Docs’ Smart Compose option that uses machine learning to predict what the user will type as his/her next few words. This feature speeds up the document creation process for the user.
The company says the introduction of the feature will help “users write more efficiently by predicting text quickly, timely and accurately.”
The predictions feature was first announced by Microsoft via a beta version last year, however, Neowin spotted the feature being rolled out to about 50 percent of the Beta Channel users.
How will the Microsoft Word ‘Predictions’ feature work?
Once rolled out, the predictions feature on Word will highlight the ‘prediction text’ in grey and the user can accept the prediction by pressing the ‘Tab’ key or can reject the same by press ‘Esc’. The company has said overtime the predictions will become better as the AI recognises the writing style of the user. For users who are not interested in using the predictions feature, you can turn the feature off as well.
Microsoft has also said that the predictions feature will also be rolled out in Outlook for Windows this month which will allow users to finish writing their emails faster.
The company has also said that the data the feature collects by learning the writing style of users will not “leave the tenant boundary” and no human users will ever be able to see or analyse it. Word users can navigate to Help > Feedback to send any complaints or suggestions to Microsoft.
Google rolled out the predictions feature for its suite of apps back in 2019 and it has been accepted by a number of users across the globe. The new predictions feature in Microsoft Word could help it capture a significant segment of a market that Google’s been dominating till now.
