Generative AI is slowly and subtly creeping into every part of our lives, and its latest victim is Google's Gmail app. The software giant recently announced that Gmail is entering its Gemini era by rolling out a few AI-powered features intended to make the app's user experience better and more intuitive.
Google revealed that approximately 3 billion people rely on Gmail to connect and get things done. With AI Overviews in inboxes, users should be able to find important information faster and save time by shrinking the contents into a concise summary of key points, just like most other AI bots.
Interestingly, users will also be able to ask their inbox more specific questions, and Gmail will leverage Gemini's capabilities to generate an AI Overview with the answer. In theory, you won't have to search your mind to remember specific keywords used in an particualr email to find it.
Instead, the AI implementation will allow users to use more natural language. For instance, you could ask, “Who was the plumber who gave me a quote for the bathroom renovation last year?” Then Gemini should instantly generate the answer, allowing you to access the details you need from any particular email.
The AI Overview conversation summaries feature is rolling out for everyone for free — however, you'll need a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription to ask your inbox questions with AI Overviews.
Google says all Gmail users can now use the "Help Me Write" feature to polish or even draft emails from scratch for free. Additionally, they can also use the new "Suggested Replies," which uses the context of your email conversations to provide relevant potential responses. "And next month, we'll be updating Help Me Write with better personalization by bringing context from your other Google apps," Google added.
It's worth noting that the Help Me Write and Suggest Replies features are rolling out to Gmail users for free, but you'll need a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription for the Proofread feature.
Finally, Gmail is getting a new feature called "AI Inbox," designed to filter out the clutter from critical updates in your mailbox.
AI Inbox is like having a personalized briefing, highlighting to-dos and catching you up on what matters. It helps you prioritize, identifying your VIPs based on signals like people you email frequently, those in your contacts list and relationships it can infer from message content.
Google still promises that it will not train its AI models using data from your Gmail inbox. "Crucially, this analysis happens securely with the privacy protections you expect from Google, keeping your data under your control," Google added. "This lets high-stakes items — like a bill due tomorrow or a dentist reminder — rise to the top."
The feature is currently rolling out to a select group of trusted testers and will reach broad availability in the coming months. If you're against AI infiltrating your Gmail inbox, you can disable the advanced features, though this might prevent you from accessing useful smart features like spell checking and more.
Will you trust Google’s new AI features with your confidential Gmail data? Share your thoughts in the comments and cast your vote in the poll!
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