Using AI to write better, faster, smarter

Computers can write bizarre sci-fi movies about characters who have to “go to the skull,” but can they make us better writers?

Compose.ai just raised $2.1m in seed funding to help us write faster, per TechCrunch.

It’s a free browser extension that offers autocomplete suggestions to help users churn out the content.

The startup’s yet-to-launch paid versions will “learn” a user’s voice, picking up frequently used phrases and writing styles. Teams can get a custom plan that lets them set language rules.

Spicing up the text editor

Meanwhile, Google Docs and Microsoft Word may soon have to step up their games.

Almanac — which raised $9m in seed funding last year — bills itself as the fastest document editor ever.

It works by streamlining common workflows. You can:

• Compare and merge your changes with the original doc
• Create to-do lists and request feedback or approval inside docs
• Use it without touching your mouse
• Save frequently used blocks of text and insert them later

Other handy word wranglers have found success, too:

• Grammarly, which offers both free and paid services, has 30m+ daily users.
• Israeli-based AI21 Labs’ Wordtune is an AI tool that helps rephrase writing for clarity and tone. It raised $25m last year.

All of these advances sound great, but we have yet to see any startup tackle writer’s block.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated Grammarly’s annual revenue. This number has never been officially released. The error has been amended.