Google to roll-out AI-powered ‘Magic Compose’

Google is rolling out the beta version of Magic Compose, a new Messages feature that uses AI to help you write text messages. The feature will send up to 20 previous messages to Google’s servers to generate suggestions using RCS with end-to-end encryption (E2EE).

Google spokesperson Justin Rende further clarified to The Verge that “conversation data used by Magic Compose is not retained” and that “suggested response outputs are not retained once they have been provided to the user.” Google would not send messages to its servers when users are not using Magic Compose.

Google outlines these conditions on its Magic Compose support page, noting that it will send these messages, along with any included emoji, reactions, and URLs, to its servers to help its AI craft an appropriate response. The company adds that it won’t send any messages with attachments, voice messages, and images but notes “image captions and voice transcriptions may be sent.”

Google first rolled out E2EE on the app in 2020 and made it available for group chats late last year. Toggling on the feature means third parties — not even Google — will see your messages. While using Magic Compose with E2EE will send your messages to Google’s servers, the company maintains that it still can’t actually read them.

Magic Compose is just one of the many AI-powered features Google showed off at its I/O event earlier this month. According to Google, you can use the feature to reply to text messages using “stylized, suggested responses with the context of your messages.” The feature is currently rolling out to users in the Google Messages beta program.

If you have access to the feature, you’ll see a chat bubble next to the app’s message composer. From there, you can pick a suggested response and then continue to rewrite the text using various preset styles, like “chill,” “excited,” or “Shakespeare.” The feature only seems to be available with RCS messages for now, and there’s no word on when it might support SMS / MMS.