About two years ago, Google practically force-fed artificial intelligence to the masses when it began showing AI-generated responses to people’s questions at the top of search results. Now the company is taking a similar tack by adding AI into another ubiquitously used service, Google Mail.
Google this month began rolling out a suite of new tools relying on generative AI, the technology driving chatbots, to help users manage their bloated inboxes and speed up the process of writing email. Some of the features are free, while others require paying a subscription.
Gmail users can now look up emails by typing a question, such as “What’s the name of the job recruiter I met last month?” Google is also testing a new type of inbox, set for release later this year, that automatically pulls together a to-do list based on tasks discussed inside emails. In addition, Google unveiled tools to streamline writing, including an automatic proofreader and response generator.
If the new AI technology becomes widely adopted by Gmail users, this could be the biggest change to email, our most steadfast web service, in decades. It may transform the way people manually check their inboxes all day long into a more streamlined experience, an overview that people look at periodically.
All of this, of course, has implications for privacy. To make the new features work, Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, needs access to a user’s entire inbox. The company insists that while Gemini systems analyze our emails, there are protections in place so that its employees do not read them.
Here’s a rundown of first impressions of the new tools and answers to important questions about privacy going forward.
AI-Powered Inbox
Managing an email inbox has become a tedious chore. When someone sends you an email, you can read and reply to it, delete it or ignore it. The option of ignoring an email takes the least effort, but unread notes pile up over time and add to stress.
The AI Inbox offered me respite from my chaotic inbox this week. I had recently exchanged emails with a local preschool discussing enrollment for my daughter. Around the same time, her pediatrician had sent an email asking me to fill out a questionnaire. But throughout the day, my inbox became cluttered with marketing messages from retailers and other unsolicited emails.When I clicked on the AI Inbox tab, Google’s AI reminded me of my recent conversations and presented a to-do list: Respond to the preschool about enrollment and fill out the questionnaire for the pediatrician. None of the other noise in my inbox was there.
Google is testing the AI Inbox with a small set of users, but when the feature arrives publicly in the coming months, I think lots of people, especially busy parents and office workers, will find it useful.
Free Tools
Google is now making free the following Gmail tools that were previously available only to users who paid subscriptions to use its AI:
— Suggested replies with personalization. Gemini will now analyse a message and generate a bespoke response based on your writing style in past emails.
— AI Overviews with email summaries. Similar to the AI Overviews featured on Google search, Gmail will show an automatic summary of a conversation at the top of each email thread.
— A “Help Me Write” button. Users can click “Help Me Write” to compose an email by typing a prompt, such as “Draft a letter to my power company asking why my bill is so high.”
As a professional writer, I mostly did not find these tools helpful, but people who struggle with words might appreciate having them.
Paid Tools
Google has also released new tools that will be available initially to people paying for a subscription to one of Google’s AI plans, which start at $20 a month:
— AI Overviews for searching for emails. In the past, people could look for emails by typing keywords like “plumber” into a search bar. Now, users can type a question into the search bar, such as “What is the name of the plumber who fixed my toilet last year?”
I liked this feature — it will come in handy especially for people with bloated inboxes, since the old-school way of searching for the keyword “plumber” could load lots of irrelevant emails.
— A proofread tool. Google’s AI can highlight an entire sentence that needs improvement and suggest a full revision. For example, it could trim a rambling sentence down to a few concise words.
IS GOOGLE IS READING MY EMAILS?
The company says that while its Gemini AI system can scan your emails to offer help, people do not look at your content, including the questions you ask Gemini to search for an email. In addition, the company said, it will not be using Gmail data to train, or improve, Gemini.
Blake Barnes, Google’s vice president of product overseeing Gmail, said." Each Gmail user is living inside his or her own private room. Inside that room, Gemini is presented a question along with a set of emails that could have the answer to that question." All of this data processing happens within the private room, and the data does not leave this room to train Gemini, he added.
SHOULD I OPT OUT?
All of the above features, with the exception of AI Inbox, which has yet to be released, are turned on for Gmail users by default, meaning you will have to opt out if you are uninterested in using them. To opt out, go into the account settings and uncheck the box labeled “Smart features.” — The New York Times
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