WordPress.com rolls out AI Assistant to edit sites, generate images with natural language prompts

WordPress.com Introduces Built-In AI Assistant for Site Management

WordPress.com, the website hosting platform from Automattic, announced Tuesday the launch of a built-in AI assistant designed to transform how site owners manage their websites1

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. The WordPress AI Assistant integrates directly into the site editor and media library, allowing users to edit sites with prompts using natural language commands rather than requiring technical expertise or coding knowledge4

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. This marks a significant expansion beyond the company's previous one-off AI website builder, evolving it into a persistent assistant for ongoing site design and customization3

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Natural Language Commands Enable Easy Site Design and Customization

The WordPress AI Assistant understands website content and layout, enabling site owners to modify site layouts and styles without precise technical instructions. Users can issue general commands like "make this section feel more modern or spacious," "change my site's colors to be brighter and bolder," or "give me more font options that feel clean and professional"1

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. Head of AI Ronnie Burt emphasized the simplicity: "No copy-pasting, no prompt engineering, and no code to figure out what to do with"4

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. The assistant can also add or adjust layouts by creating contact pages or adding testimonials sections, though these features work exclusively with block themes rather than classic themes1

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Image Generation and Editing Through Google's Nano Banana AI

For visual content, the assistant leverages Google Gemini's Nano Banana AI models to handle image generation and editing tasks2

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. A new "Generate Image" button in the media library allows users to specify requirements like aspect ratios or dictate image styles1

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. The assistant can generate new images or make prompted edits to existing ones, with examples including "update this image to be black and white" or "replace this stack of pancakes with waffles"3

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. WordPress.com states the assistant understands a website's look and brand, tailoring media accordingly3

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Content Updates and Editorial Support Through Block Notes

Beyond design, the AI assistant handles content updates such as rewriting bios to sound more confident or translating sections into other languages5

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. The assistant functions as an editor, offering headline suggestions, fact checks, and grammar recommendations1

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. This capability integrates with the block notes editor introduced in WordPress 6.9, which enables team collaboration within the editor1

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. Users can invoke the assistant by typing the @ai command followed by their requests, and the AI provides responses with relevant links and citations from external sources5

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Opt-In Feature with Automatic Activation for AI-Built Sites

The WordPress AI Assistant is an opt-in feature that users must manually enable through their site settings4

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. To activate it, users need to visit their Sites list, click their site name, navigate to Settings, scroll to "AI tools," and toggle on "Enable AI assistant"1

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. However, customers who purchase a website using the AI website builder will have the assistant enabled automatically1

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. The tool is available for WordPress.com's Business or Commerce plans, and works best with the platform's block themes while offering limited functionality with classic themes3

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. This launch positions WordPress.com to compete more directly with other AI-powered website builders in an increasingly competitive market4

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