Word is the main program of the Office suite, the most used to write all kinds of documents. Undoubtedly, this is one of the basic pillars of the Office suite, so it is normal that it is the program that usually receives the most attention from Microsoft. The company is constantly looking for new ways to improve the way users work with the PC and make use of the applications in the office suite. And, if we are one of those who usually work in Word every day , very soon we will receive a new function that will help us to be much more efficient: predictive writing .
A few hours ago, Microsoft announced the availability of this new feature for Word, the Office word processor, and Outlook, the suite’s mail client. As Microsoft claims, text prediction seeks to help users type much faster by suggesting words as they type.
How Word’s Text Prediction Works
If we use Gmail often, the concept is the same. Microsoft makes use of its own artificial intelligence so that, as we write, it analyzes the text. Thanks to this, the program can anticipate what will be the next word that we are going to write. Thus, as we write, we will come across these suggestions, which we can accept directly using the Tab key on the keyboard , or reject using the escape key.
This function automatically learns our habits and customs, so as we write, it becomes more precise and predicts much better which words will be used next.
Can it be deactivated?
There are users who are looking for simplicity and minimalism to write without distractions. And of course this feature can be confusing for you, at least at first. Fortunately, Microsoft will allow disabling this feature in all programs that will receive it.
In the case of Word, the function can be deactivated in both the Web version and Office 365 . For this we will only have to place the mouse on the status bar that indicates that the text predictions are activated, click on it and uncheck the corresponding option.
If what we use is Outlook 365, we must open the File> Options section while writing an email. Within this section we will find the option that will allow us to deactivate this predictive text. And in case we want to remove it from Outlook Web, what we must do is go to the Settings> See all Outlook settings> Mail> Compose and reply section. And there disable the function of suggesting words or phrases while I write.
Availability
At the moment, only 50% of Office 365 Insider users, specifically those running the 2010 version of the suite, build 13301.20004 or higher, can enjoy this feature. And, when it is ready next March, it will reach all users. Initially, Microsoft indicates that the text predictions are only available in English for now, although it is expected that, when it comes out of beta, it will reach other languages, such as Spanish, since Microsoft has not specified otherwise.
Privacy is one of the aspects that can concern us the most about these types of functions. Microsoft indicates that all the information is processed privately on a remote server with Machine Learning , and at no time does it leave it or be reviewed by any human. Therefore, we do not have to worry about privacy when writing documents or writing emails.