How To Respond to an Old Text, According to ChatGPT
AI is here and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. And while the idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a bit scary and kind of an unknown entity at this point, it can be quite useful. This is especially true when it comes to prompts asking how to respond to something or ones asking for creative suggestions. That’s where ChatGPT comes in handy. ChatGPT—officially named Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer—is a chatbot that was developed by OpenAI. And when you come across a problem like forgetting to respond to a week-old text, it might be overwhelming to think up something on your own, and ChatGPT can certainly help with that.
ChatGPT is a great way to get human-like answers to any prompt, and uses human interaction from its users to continuously evolve and update to give better answers as time goes on. While it might not give correct answers all the time if you ask something more factual, it can be a fun, creative tool to spit out responses, baby names or travel ideas. So if you have a problem like forgetting to respond to someone a week ago and need to jumpstart your brain into coming up with an acceptable text to send, we’ve got you covered (with help from ChatGPT, of course).
Related: We Asked ChatGPT To Give Us a List of Baby Names Inspired by Taylor Swift—and It Did Not Disappoint
ChatGPT honestly gave some good advice about responding to a week-old, late text
Let’s say someone texted you and it wasn’t a friend, per se, and maybe you were so busy that you just never got around to responding. Now, a week later, you feel really bad about just completely ghosting this person, especially since it wasn’t on purpose. We asked ChatGPT, “How should I respond to a text that's over a week old?”
In response to the prompt, ChatGPT gave some seriously good advice. “If you are responding to a text that's over a week old, it's a good idea to acknowledge the delay in your response and apologize for it,” it suggested. “You could say something like, ‘I'm sorry for the delayed response. I've been quite busy lately and just saw your message. How can I help you now?’”
Simple, not drawn out and a good responding text to send. But ChatGPT didn’t stop there. It came in with some sage advice.
“It's important to show that you value the person's message and are interested in continuing the conversation despite the delay,” it said. “If the message is time-sensitive, it's important to let the person know that you may not have been able to respond in time and apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
This might be why AI might be so terrifying because why did ChatGPT give us advice that was straight from a therapist’s mouth?! “Overall, being honest and apologetic while also expressing interest in the conversation can help to maintain positive communication despite the delay in response,” it finished. Again: scary good and sound advice.
How to respond to a text that’s a week old, according to ChatGPT
If you’re looking for specific responses, and don’t want to ask ChatGPT yourself, it gave us a lot of great ones to use (including friend-specific suggestions that are further below).
ChatGPT suggested we try the 10 following texts as general responses:
1. "Apologies for the delay, I just saw this message now. How can I assist you today?"
This one is a bit robotic (which is understandable) but it's also still a decent follow-up response.
2. "I'm sorry for the late reply, things have been hectic. Is there still something you need help with?"
Again, a short and sweet one that leaves it open for the other person to tell us to get lost because it's been a week.
3. "Hey there! Sorry for the delay, how are you doing? Hope everything's well!"
This is a very friendly one and very nice. A great way to smooth things over.
4. "I'm so sorry for the late reply! How can I make it up to you?"
This one is similar in that regard as well.
5. "My apologies for the delayed response, I've been swamped with work. What's up?"
Again, starting with an apology of sorts is really all it takes to reply to someone you left on read a week ago.
6. "I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Is it too late to help with what you needed?"
Yep, it's just a general good idea to follow your apology with an offer of help, so that this person does see that their needs are valued.
7. "Hello! I just saw this message now. How can I be of assistance?"
We've all received the "Hey just saw this!" to something you absolutely know that they saw a week ago. So, maybe stay clear of this one, but it's still a valid option.
8. "I'm sorry for not responding earlier. How can I help you now?"
The formula here is definitely, 1. Apologize and 2. Offer your attention now.
9. "Hey! Sorry for the delay, what's new?"
This one is super casual, so make sure this isn't in response to someone you're not at least on a chill basis with.
10. "Sorry for the delayed response. Is there still something I can help you with?"
This is very customer service-y, but does get the job done.
So yes, those 10 responses had very similar vibes and offered the same thing to the recipient. However, each variation might work for someone new.
The one suggestion I'll definitely use is number 3: "Hey there! Sorry for the delay, how are you doing? Hope everything's well!" It isn't too formal but still not too casual and offers up an apology along with well wishes. (Of course, if the original text has its own question or request, make sure to respond to that directly as well.)
How to respond to a friend you haven’t texted back in a week, according to ChatGPT
Just for fun, we then asked ChatGPT, ”Can you give me text message examples of how to respond to a text that's over a week old from a friend?” We all know that ignoring friends—even if by accident—can be really damning. No one wants to be ignored by a friend for a week. What’s wrong with us!?
Here are the top 7 texts ChatGPT gave us to respond to a friend we left on read a week ago:
1. "I'm sorry I missed your text last week. What's been going on with you?"
Just like with responding to a non-friend earlier, the formula for responding to a friend after a week of not getting back to them is to always start with an apology. This one is a bit more casual and good for if their last message wasn't too serious or pointed.
2. "Sorry for the late reply, hope you're doing well. How's life been treating you?"
This one is slightly more on the formal side, but it relays your meaning to your friend and hopefully gets the conversation going again.
3. "Hey! So sorry for not responding earlier. How's everything with you?"
More casual and good for a chill friend or someone you know isn't harboring that hurt of feelings over the week of no contact.
4. "Sorry for the delay, I've been swamped with work. Want to grab lunch soon?"
This one is good: It acknowledges wrongdoing but also gives an explanation of why you've been distant from them. It also
5. "I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner. How about we chat on the phone later?"
This one is also great because you're offering a more intimate way of connecting to make up for not getting back to them for so long.
6. "My apologies for not responding earlier. How was your week?"
Turning it back to them and putting your friend at the front and center of your responses is always a good move.
7. "Sorry for the late reply, I've been dealing with some stuff. How have you been?"
Kind of like number 4, this response gives somewhat of an explanation as to why you were AWOL for a week.
So if you're ever roadblocked on how to text someone back or how to respond to someone, for most situations, ChatGPT can be a pretty good bot to lean on and gain some good advice.
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