How to automate your email replies using ChatGPT
In today’s fast-paced world, where time is of the essence and efficiency is paramount, finding ways to automate tasks has become a top priority for individuals and businesses alike.
I wrote a tool to automate things for me myself, OwlReply, over 5 years ago as a side project. Then I decided to turn it into its own service for anyone. I even tried to get venture capital for a while, but it didn’t go anywhere.
Initially, OwlReply was a simple automation tool that allowed me, and a handful of OwlReply customers/users, to generate email responses based on a few keywords or context. However, as technology advanced and AI capabilities expanded, I saw an opportunity to take OwlReply to the next level. That’s when I decided to integrate ChatGPT, an AI language model developed by OpenAI, into OwlReply’s framework.
Adding ChatGPT to email auto-replies.
The integration of ChatGPT has been a game-changer for OwlReply. It enabled the tool to generate more sophisticated and contextually relevant email replies by leveraging the power of AI. Now, users can provide OwlReply with starter content based on keywords, and ChatGPT collaborates with the tool to modify and enhance the generated response. The result is a finely crafted email draft that combines the efficiency of automation with the nuances of human communication.
I’m surprised that before I created OwlReply, there wasn’t already a widely adopted solution for automating email replies. Email is such a fundamental part of modern communication, and it’s astonishing how much time and effort can be spent on crafting individual responses. Given the prevalence of repetitive email tasks, it seems like automating this process would have been a natural progression.
How to integrate ChatGPT with your emails.
Step one: Make an account with OwlReply. It’s free for 100 emails a day, which is more than enough.
Step two: Give OwlReply access to your email. This step has to be done in order for OwlReply to read your emails, create an AI reply to them, and put that reply in your inbox.
You might get a warning “this app is not authenticated by Google” if you use the Google sign in button. That’s because Google charges $75,000 verification fee through a third party security company in order to give API access to your emails. IMAP is the best way to signup and connect your account.
Step three: Setup the default template for your reply. You can also leave it blank and your reply will be almost entirely generated by ChatGPT. However you should put things like your company information in the email template, so that the AI has context for your emails.
Step four: Add some potential replies to keywords. This step is optional, but it allows you to fine-tune ChatGPT’s answers for you.
And that’s it! How it works is that it reads your unread emails, creates a reply draft, and puts that into your “Drafts” folder for you to send manually. OwlReply does NOT send the email automatically for you.
Fine Tunings and Warnings
Integrating AI into your emails is something that must be done with human oversight. This is because it could generate incorrect responses. For example, we tested an email where customers were asking “How do I buy a ticket for the Maid Show?”. The AI created a draft email telling the customer: “Just go to our website and click Tickets”.
However this answer was wrong. ChatGPT generates its answers based only on the information it has in its database of likely answers. It has analyzed millions of emails and found this to be similar to the most common answer given to that particular question. ChatGPT is partially AI, partially an autocompletion service.
It’s also wrong in part because the AI currently does not have access to websites and outside sources of information. It also can not refer back to past emails. So it provides the most generic possible reply.
The ability of the AI to access websites like your company site may be added in the future.
To mitigate those challenges, it’s essential to have a system in place for fine-tuning ChatGPT’s responses. OwlReply provides an option to add potential replies to keywords, allowing users to guide and optimize the generated answers. By continuously refining and tweaking the system, you can enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of the AI-generated email drafts.
Automating email replies using ChatGPT and OwlReply has the potential to revolutionize the way we manage our email communication. By leveraging the power of AI, we can save valuable time and effort spent on repetitive tasks while maintaining control and personalization over our responses. While there may be challenges and limitations to consider, such as the need for human oversight and fine-tuning, the benefits of streamlining our email workflows are undeniable.
Example use cases of ChatGPT for email auto-replies.
Example use case in using ChatGPT to automate replies for customer support for an e-commerce store.
Example Email: Hi, I ordered a pair of shoes last week, and my order status still says ‘Processing.’ Can I get an update on when it might ship?”
Example Outgoing ChatGPT-created Email: Hello Jane, thank you for reaching out. I apologize for the delay. Your order is expected to ship within the next ____ days. We appreciate your patience and will send you a tracking number as soon as it’s available. Best, EcommerceShop Support Team
It’s only going to get better, and more feature-rich, from here!
As technology continues to advance, we can look forward to further improvements and advancements in the integration of AI into email communication, opening up new possibilities for efficiency and productivity. So why not give it a try and see how automating your email replies can transform your daily routine and free up time for the things that truly matter?