Google started to add AI features to its popular email service Gmail last year. These focused on productivity and included options to summarize long emails, optimize drafts, or improve search.
These features were limited to Google AI Pro or Ultra subscribers, and also available as part of a Google Workspace subscription.
Tip: looking for emails on Gmail? They may have been pushed to the updates category.
Google announced today that Gmail has entered the Gemini era. It does not come as a surprise that more AI is being added to Gmail.
Here is an overview of the new features that Google announced today on its The Keyword blog.
AI Overviews
AI Overviews, which are already available when you search using Google Search, is coming to Gmail. Google expands the feature somewhat, as Gmail will display summaries of emails to display key points to Gmail users.
The feature comes into play as well when you type a question in the inbox. Gemini will display the answer as a simple AI Overview” in that case.
Google says that this enables new and better interactions with the content. Gmail users may search for “Who was the plumber that gave me a quote for the bathroom renovation last year?” to quickly get the answer they are looking for, according to Google.
The AI Overview feature is being rolled out starting today to all Gmail users while Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers get the option to ask inbox questions.
Help me Write
Another new feature is Help me Write. Google describes it as a way to use AI to draft emails from scratch or improve them.
The already available Smart Replies feature is upgraded to Suggested Replies, which is now using the context of the conversation to offer more relevant responses.
Last but not least, a new proofread feature makes “advanced grammar, tone and style checks”.
Help me Write and Suggested Replies are rolling out to all Gmail users. The advanced proofreader is only available for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
AI Inbox
Gmail users will also see a new AI Inbox entry above the regular inbox on Gmail going forward. Google says that this new feature is designed to remove clutter from the inbox so that users “can focus on what’s most important”.
The company compares it to a personalized briefing that is helping Gmail users catch up quickly.
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. Crucially, this analysis happens securely with the privacy protections you expect from Google, keeping your data under your control. This lets high-stakes items — like a bill due tomorrow or a dentist reminder — rise to the top
This feature is only available to “trusted testers” at the time but rolled out broadly in the coming months.
Closing Words
All three features roll out to Gmail users in the United States who are Google AI Pro or Ultra subscribers first.
Google has little to say about privacy, but it should be clear that the AI needs access to the emails for its functionality. Google did not reveal if there will be options to turn off the AI features in Gmail.
Now You: do you use AI features in your email client or on a website already? What is your take on these new features?
Do I use AI features in my email client or on a website already?
I do not use AI features in the sens of assistance in any other area than AI itself; that means certainly not in email. I happen to refer to Duck[.]ai for specific information quickly brought and summarized but, provided, I’ll insert it in my thoughts, work by my own means. More like “Remind me his name” than “Compare his work to others”.
What is my take on these new features?
Insane, one deployment more of AI everywhere. ‘Help me Write’ is truly relevant of features which participate to dulling of our minds. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”. We’d better learn than get fed: the value of self-sufficiency over direct assistance.
I avoid web based email at all costs. I currently use Thunderbird to handle all my email and my google calender.
If it comes down to it I’d be willing to pay for a desktop client to avoid having “features” like this one forced on me.
Why “avoid web based email at all costs”? Would it be that web based email is or is suspected of being potentially tied to AI assistance? Gmail is, for sure, this article states it clearly. But you do have several email service providers which are not only free of any AI interference but moreover highly secured, Posteo[.]de to start with. Of course there is a cost, though low: what is 1€/month for a service you can access form everywhere?
Yahoo does not have AI yet. It is definitely not secure though. I use it for innocent stuff and I do not use new style. It still looks like 10 year old web email client. Just the way I like it.
“Google has little to say about privacy, but it should be clear that the AI needs access to the emails for its functionality. Google did not reveal if there will be options to turn off the AI features in Gmail.”
Free email providers always read your emails. It is a given. So nothing really changed privacy-wise. The only diffidence is if this is going to be unavoidable annoyance or not.
The synopsis that gmail uses about doubles the space a email takes up on my phone. The synopsis lots of times does not show key elements of the emails such as the time of meetings, scheduled event dates, and other important things. This causes the need to scroll down, if the synopsis was off the emails would be shown completely.