Drafting Email Replies With AI and Checking Them

Use AI for the first draft and a person for the last word. A draft is a starting point. The facts, the promises and the tone are still yours.

What the tools offer

Both big email services now have a drafting feature. Google lists drafting as something Gemini in Gmail can do. It can write new emails or refine drafts for tone and clarity.¹

Microsoft says Copilot in Outlook can turn a rough draft or outline into a full email.² Once a draft appears, you can change its tone or length, or have it written again.²

Two ways of starting a draft suit different people:

The first is safer for anything that carries a promise. You supply the facts, so the tool has less room to invent them.

Where drafts go wrong

Australia's privacy regulator warns that AI results can be inaccurate or false.³ In a reply, that could be a made-up delivery date, a refund policy you don't have or an old price.

Tone slips too. A draft can sound too cheerful for an angry customer, or too stiff for a regular who knows you by name.

A checking routine

Read the draft against the customer's email, not on its own. Go through these in order:

• Did it answer the question that was actually asked?
• Is every fact, date, price and name right? Check each against your own records.
• Has it promised anything you haven't agreed to, such as a refund, a discount or a deadline?
• Does it sound like your business? Cut phrases you'd never say.
• Is it right for the person? A complaint or a bereavement needs a human voice, written by a human.
• Is anything private in it that shouldn't be, such as another customer's details?

If it fails any one, fix it or write the reply yourself. Don't send and hope. A slow reply that is right is better than a quick one that turns out to be wrong, because the second kind costs you a second email to correct it.

Keep a style note

Write a short note for the tool. Say how you greet people, how you sign off, which words you avoid and what you never promise. Paste it in when you ask for a draft. Drafts won't be perfect, but you may edit less.

Tell people when it matters

Rules differ by country, so check your own regulator. Australia's privacy regulator says people should be told when they're dealing with an AI system and not a human.³ That's about tools that talk to customers directly. A reply that a person reads, edits and sends is a different case. The guidance is worth a look if you ever let a tool answer alone.

For the data side of drafting, see customer emails and privacy. For tools you may already have, see AI inside Gmail and Outlook.