Google Has a New AI Inbox for Gmail Users, and That's Not All

22 hours ago 6

Gmail users, Google has an AI Inbox coming your way. It's just one part of a sweeping infusion of Gemini-powered AI features for the widely used email service.

The new AI Inbox view will provide a snapshot of what Gemini judges to be your most important emails without your having to sift through them all.

Google has been force-feeding Gemini into products across its lineup, from Google Docs and Sheets to the AI Overviews and AI Mode on search pages. Its hardly alone in its vigorous rollout of generative AI capabilities -- Microsoft has been taking a similar approach in spreading Copilot into Windows and its Microsoft Office services. Meanwhile, top rival OpenAI has been cramming more and more services into ChatGPT, as well as launching its own browser.

In its Thursday announcement of the Gmail updates, Google said it is making some AI features freely available to everyone, and introducing other new features for its paid Google One subscribers. Read on for everything that's coming to your Gmail inbox

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Free AI features on the way

Let's start with the free features that will come to all consumers who have a Gmail account, whether they access through the web, or via iOS or Android.

Suggested replies with personalization: Gmail users are likely familiar with Smart Replies, which appear as suggestions when they're replying to an email. These suggestions have been serviceable but rarely perfect, requiring significant edits. The updated version uses AI smarts to better understand the context of the conversation and to offer suggested replies using your personal style and tone.

AI Overviews (thread summaries): These aren't the AI Overviews that took over the top of your Google search, but summarizations of email threads meant to show you what's most important from the conversation without you having to read every single reply.

Help Me Write: Help Me Write lets you draft an entire email using a single prompt to Gemini, which could come in handy when there's a lot of specificity that needs to be relayed and you need help finding the words.

AI features for paid users

Google also announced a few new features specifically for paid subscribers. Here's what you can expect when they arrive in your inbox.

AI Overviews for Gmail Search

This is a feature with serious power behind it, especially when you're trying to find a specific piece of information and aren't sure how to surface it. Google will let you use natural language to kick off a search through conversations you've had with others, look at past online purchase orders and everything in between to provide a summary.

Proofread

Proofread is a straightforward feature that will stay on the lookout for grammar, conciseness, word choice and sentence structure to provide a one-click fix when you're crafting emails.

Both AI Overviews and Proofread will be available for Google One Ultra and Pro subscribers, starting in the US and for the English language, with wider availability to follow.

AI Inbox

Easily the biggest new feature for Gmail is the AI Inbox view that will provide a streamlined experience, putting what's most important front and center. AI Inbox will initially roll out to people enrolled in Google's Trusted Tester program, with wider availability to follow.

AI Inbox is broken into two key sections:

Priorities: Your most important emails will be surfaced here, along with time-sensitive action items, due dates and more.

Catch me up: A recap of emails and events you should be aware of that don't require immediate attention. Reservations, online orders and deliveries will be found here.

Given that it's in a testing period, AI Inbox will likely evolve based on feedback from testers.

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