Microsoft has launched new software to suggest edits to writing that are politically correct. The US technology giant has included the new feature in its latest version of Word, the popular word processing software.

It will apply artificial intelligence to recommend users to write in a way that does not discriminate against a particular gender.

Users of the new Microsoft Word feature could see suggestions to change “policeman” to “police officer”, for example.

The software will also use AI to recommend synonyms and ways to shorten sentences to ensure brevity.

“Writing requires a dash of uniquely human creativity. Artificial intelligence alone cannot do it for us, at least not very well. But AI can – and already is – helping us do things like make sure we spell words correctly and use correct grammar,” the company said in a blogpost.

"As the AI in these products is becoming more sophisticated, they are helping us do more than spot a misspelled word."

Microsoft’s rivals have made similar moves after the company first brought its Ideas feature to PowerPoint last year. Google announced in February an AI writing tool to “incorporate the complexity and nuances of grammar correction”.

A trial version of Ideas will be rolled out in June but will be made available to a wider audience in the autumn. The service will initially be implemented across Word Online, a cloud-based version of the Microsoft product and will ensure users can smooth out clunky sentences and improve readability.

Microsoft’s push for gender inclusivity comes amid a wider movement in different sectors to ensure greater care in ensuring the language being used is gender neutral.

Last month, it emerged that Britain’s National Maritime Museum has started to refer to ships with the pronoun “it”, after centuries of boats being characterised as “she” or “her”.

The move sparked fierce criticism from retired naval chief Admiral Lord West, who claimed it was an example of “political correctness gone mad”.