After months of planning, the last thing I wanted to do after my wedding was write 50 thank you notes for our guests. I had heard of people using ChatGPT to draft wedding speeches, but could it also help with thank you notes? And what about other types of mass communication that require small tweaks for each recipient? At first, the idea of automating a note to a loved one felt wrong to me, especially for such a meaningful event. In the past, I have even written about the potential disingenuousness of sending AI-crafted messages without disclosing it. Ideally, I wanted to personally handwrite and personalize each note as a sincere token of my gratitude.

But as the task loomed over me, the idea of getting a little help to tackle the final boss of wedding planning became more appealing. I reached out to other brides to see how they handled the task, and was surprised by the variety of approaches. One bride simply sent everyone a pre-printed card with a generic thank you message. It was quick and easy, but lacked a personal touch.

So I decided to go against my initial instinct and turn to ChatGPT (screw tradition, I’m exhausted!). Here’s how I used AI to generate all 50 thank you notes in seconds, customize them for each guest, and save myself from hours of tedium and a sore hand.

This article is part of PCMag’s Try AI series. Check it out for more innovative and inspiring uses for artificial intelligence!

ChatGPT vs. Google Gemini

My first task was to determine which chatbot was best suited for the job. I considered using either ChatGPT or Google Gemini, my go-to chatbots for everyday tasks. My decision would depend on which one could easily access the data for the thank you notes. I had already collected the necessary information for each guest and organized it into a three-column Google Sheet:

– Name
– Gift
– Additional anecdote or special wedding memory to mention in the note

I first tried sending the Google Sheet to Google Gemini, thinking it would be able to read a fellow Google product’s content. However, I was surprised to find that it was not able to access the information due to “security and privacy restrictions,” even though the Sheet was created on my own account. Gemini suggested I put the information into a text file, but that would require manually extracting each data point and arranging it into a list – more work!

Perhaps the paid version of Gemini, Gemini Advanced ($20/month), could have handled the task, but I was not willing to spend any more money on wedding-related tasks. (Credit: Google Gemini)

Fortunately, ChatGPT was up for the challenge and able to pull the data directly from the Google Sheet.

“I need help writing thank you notes for my wedding,” I said. “If I provide you with a spreadsheet containing the names and gifts, can you generate drafts of each note?”

“Absolutely! I’d be happy to assist with that,” ChatGPT responded. “If you upload the spreadsheet, I can generate drafts for each note based on the names and gifts provided.” I sent it the spreadsheet, making sure to include all the necessary information.