Tried that $50 AI email responder tool

Bought it thinking it would save me hours but it just sent canned replies that sounded nothing like me. One client asked if I had started outsourcing my work overseas. Has anyone actually found one that doesn't make you sound like a robot?

3 comments

3 Comments

fionat553d agoTop Commenter

Did you read that article someone posted about how these AI tools all use the same basic script? I saw a breakdown that said most of them just pull from a handful of generic response templates and tweak a few words. That explains why my emails sounded like they came from a call center in another country - no personality, no short cuts like I actually type with, just robotic formality. The only way I've seen it work for people is if they spend hours training it on their old emails, and even then it still misses the inside jokes or the way you naturally apologize for a delay. Honestly, I think we're better off just writing our own quick replies and saving the AI for things like sorting spam or flagging urgent messages.

zaranelson3d ago

Honestly, I'm going to push back on this. The whole "it sounds like a call center" thing is exactly the point for me. I don't want my personality bleeding into every boring reply about meeting times or status updates. Most of my work emails are just polite formalities, and that generic script actually saves me from having to think of how to phrase "okay, sounds good" for the hundredth time. If someone is spending hours training these things on their old emails, they're probably wasting time that could be spent on the actual work instead. The robotic tone is a feature, not a bug, when you're just shuffling through a pile of basic replies anyway.

lilyt233d ago

Fionat, you nailed it with the call center comparison. I tried one of those AI tools for a week and every reply felt like it was written by someone who's never had a casual conversation in their life. The worst part was how it smoothed out all my natural shortcuts - no "hey" or "got it" or the half-remembered inside joke I toss in to keep things human.