Handwritten, Thanks To AI

Recently it was brought to my attention that there are services you can engage that will create “handwritten” notes using AI robots that write out your message and address the envelope before it is mailed out. The cost is not entirely unreasonable when you factor in the price of note cards and stamps, not to mention the time that it takes to write many notes by hand.

I am not quite sure how I feel about this.

I understand that there are certain use cases where the service could be valuable. Studies show that people are more likely to open a letter when the envelope is hand addressed, and are more likely to read it when it is (or appears to be) handwritten rather than simply a mass mailing to “Dear Sir or Madam” or “Dear Resident.” For those engaged in sales or promotion of their services, this can make a huge difference in how many clients they might attract. For organizations that rely on fundraising, having more potential donors take notice of their program could mean bringing in considerably more funding during a campaign.

Having spent many hours last year writing individual notes of appreciation to every attendee of a conference, I know the amount of work that goes into this kind of commitment. I did so as a labor of love, because it was important to me. Not everyone has the time or ability to do so and might want the “next best thing” for an event or organizational outreach project.

For uses like these I can support the balance of staff time and effort against having to write out hundreds of letters in the hope of growing your business or program.

However, I feel a little uncomfortable at the possibility that this is going to become the next trend in “how to get out of writing thank you notes.” I am old enough to remember when personal computers and printers in homes became truly affordable and therefore popular. Cards made using The Print Shop software and a dot matrix printer meant that all you had to do was pick a few images, type in a couple of words, print it out and fold the paper into quarters, and voila! An incredibly generic and often badly printed thank you card. The worst were the ones that arrived in the mail after a wedding. “Thank you from Lisa and Chad!” might be accompanied by a signature on the inside, but often that was not the case.

Nothing makes you feel less special than knowing that a recipient places so little value on the gift or favor that they can’t even be bothered to send a brief personal message. I will always be of the opinion that the handwritten thank you note is the gold standard, while I also allow that sometimes the perfect shouldn’t get in the way of the good. Circumstances might mean that a genuine and thoughtful text is better than nothing at all.

I also realize that there could be very good physical reasons that one might need to hire out their handwritten thank you notes. An injury or disability could affect whether a person can write legibly or at all. This type of service could help individuals who don’t like the idea of a typed note but also have physical challenges that make it difficult or impossible for them to write the card themselves.

I hope that this kind of technology finds its place, and that the handwritten note is still the goal we strive for in conveying gratitude, condolences, and congratulations. Long live the thank you note!