Online retailer Moonpig helps shoppers write their Christmas cards with new Smart Text AI tool

Moonpig says it is the first major online card retailer to launch an AI tool that helps people craft authentic heartfelt and personalised messages all with the click of a button.

It notes that, with the increased use of instant messaging via apps such as Whatsapp, Messenger and Instagram, over the last decade emojis have come to replace words when communicating with friends and family, and as a result left many struggling to write heartfelt messages to loved ones.

The new Smart Text feature is available across Moonpig’s entire range of cards, including Christmas.

It can be found in the editor toolbar as a magic symbol when starting to compose a message. It gives people the chance to type in a short prompt providing details about the recipient, occasion and even inside jokes or specific interests.

They then watch as Smart Text generates a message.

Psychologist and scientist, Dr Meg Arroll says: "So many of us really struggle with expressing our feelings through words, which is understandable because we don’t tend to teach emotional literacy to children and young people, meaning as adults we are left with a limited emotional vocabulary.”

“The increased use of visual prompts like emojis is likely to have had an impact on our ability to verbally express ourselves.”

“To be able to convey a message in one tap using a symbol or image is much easier and more convenient, but the impact of this could decrease not only our emotional literacy but also normal literacy. This diminishes our ability to talk about our feelings and impacts our vocabulary, including emotional vocabulary.”

James Huppler VP of Product & Design at Moonpig, says: “We’re pleased to have launched our new Smart AI Text tool ahead of Christmas. Many of our customers tell us that they struggle with the creative aspect of coming up with the perfect message to go inside their cards.”

“Sometimes knowing what to say, whilst making sure it feels truly personal and heartfelt can be tricky. We hope that this Christmas will be different, as our new feature, coupled with our wide range of Christmas cards can help take some of the pressure off when writing your cards this festive season.”