“Gmail is entering the Gemini era,” said a Thursday blog post from Gmail Vice President of Product, Blake Barnes, referring to Google’s artificial intelligence program.
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In the post, he said that Google’s popular email service (used by an estimated 3 billion people) is launching new features. These new AI-powered features are intended to function as a “personal, proactive inbox assistant,” Barnes explained.
He noted that there have already been considerable changes since the service first launched more than two decades ago. Back then, Yahoo and Hotmail were the dominant internet providers, TechRadar noted. Now, email volume is at an all-time high, Barnes said. With that traffic comes an increased need to manage inbox flow, and that’s where this assistant comes in.
“Your inbox is full of important information, but accessing it has required you to become a power searcher. And even when you find the right emails, you are often left staring at a list of messages, forced to dig through the text to piece together the answer,” he said.
So, how exactly do these tools work? Well, the new AI Overviews feature works similar to the AI-generated answers that pop up at the top of Google searches. Barnes described it as “turning information into answers without digging.”
“When you open an email with dozens of replies, Gmail synthesizes the entire conversation into a concise summary of key points,” he added.
These overviews show up at the top of emails and as responses to inbox searches. For example, Barnes said users can ask questions in natural language like ““Who was the plumber that gave me a quote for the bathroom renovation last year?” and have Gemini’s advanced reasoning pull up the answer with a summary of exact details. However, not all users will get access to the feature.
“AI Overview conversation summaries are rolling out today for everyone at no cost. The ability to ask your inbox questions with AI Overviews is available to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers,” Barnes said.
There’s also the new “AI Inbox” system that filters emails and offers a “personalized briefing, highlighting to-dos and catching you up on what matters.” Barnes said this feature can help users prioritize their emails like bills that are due soon, identify inbox your VIPs “based on signals like people you email frequently,” and more. He also said that the analysis happens securely and with privacy protections in place.
“To help subsidize the free service, Google included targeted ads in Gmail that were based on information contained within the electronic conversations,” the Associated Press reported this week. “That twist initially triggered a privacy backlash among lawmakers and consumer groups, but the uproar eventually died down and never deterred Gmail’s rapid growth as an email provider. Rivals eventually adopted similar features.”
The outlet also said these new features “could herald a pivotal moment for Gmail,” and that the AI Inbox features might be particularly revolutionary.
“We’re giving trusted testers access to AI Inbox before making it more broadly available in the coming months,” said Barnes.
Another feature everyone can use is the new “Help Me Write” feature. This tool is intended to help polish emails or even draft them from scratch and its getting an update next month to integrate personalization and context from other Google apps. Users might also note that the suggested replies feature got an update.
“Suggested Replies can instantly draft an initial response in your tone and style, leaving you free to refine it before giving it your approval,” said Barnes. He also plugged the new Proofread feature for advanced grammar, tone and style, but that is another feature only for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
Barnes noted that many of the new features are powered by Gemini 3, the latest version of its AI services. According to the Associated Press, the new features will only be available in English within the U.S. to start. It then plans to expand the features to other languages and countries.
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