Writing documents for work and school just got a little bit easier. A new update for Microsoft Word, expected sometime in March, will add a text prediction feature that uses machine learning to suggest the next word an author will need. Microsoft is hoping the feature will help writers by speeding up the document creation process.
The text prediction feature is similar to the one used by Google Docs, called Smart Compose. Word will offer up grayed-out predictions as you type up your document, and all you’ll need to do to accept a suggestion is hit the Tab key. Likewise, to reject a suggestion, simply hit Escape (though you should theoretically just be able to keep typing to reject, as well).
The feature was originally announced as part of a beta last year, but should formally roll out to every Windows Word user next month. Microsoft also started rolling out this text prediction feature to its other software this month, including Outlook for Windows, allowing folks to whip up an email a little quicker. Predictive text—something also seen in Gmail—was rolled out to Outlook on the web last year, alongside an email scheduling feature.
via The Verge
