Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, has unveiled a new AI tool to help bloggers write more clearly and concisely.
This tool joins a growing list of writing assistants from companies like Proton and Google. Named Write Brief with AI, Automattic’s new tool complements the generative AI writing assistant introduced for WordPress last year. It helps users create content using text prompts and adjust the tone of their posts to be more informal or empathetic, for example.
The new tool is currently available in beta as part of Jetpack, a suite of features enhancing the functionality of WordPress.com-hosted websites, and can also be accessed via a plugin for self-hosted WordPress sites. However, during the initial beta phase, Write Brief with AI is only available for WordPress.com sites for free and can be accessed through the Jetpack icon in the top right corner of the editor.
With Write Brief with AI, users receive feedback on whether they are using too many words to describe something and can click a “Suggest” button to automatically simplify a sentence. It can also indicate if the user’s language lacks confidence, such as overusing words like “possibly,” or if they are using overly complex words that might alienate some readers.
The tool also provides a readability score based on three metrics: complexity, sentence length, and confidence.
While ChatGPT has become a prominent figure in the generative AI movement, Automattic holds a unique position as it powers a significant portion of the web through its contributions to the open-source WordPress project and the commercial WordPress.com platform. Integrating AI capabilities into its widespread blogging platform is expected to lead to substantial adoption.
Automattic revealed that Write Brief with AI originated from an internal hack week project. After successful internal testing, the company decided to make it available to the public. “We saw just how useful and beloved it quickly became, and decided to release it into the world,” wrote Automattic senior product designer Noam Almosnino in a blog post.
While the broader AI writing assistant launched last year supports a dozen languages, Write Brief with AI is currently limited to English.