Gmail is getting an AI-powered upgrade. Google announced Tuesday at the Google I/O 2024 conference that Gmail users will be able to search, summarize, and draft emails using Gemini AI technology. You can also perform more complex tasks on email, such as searching your inbox, finding receipts, and filling out online forms to help process e-commerce returns.
Google said that in a demo at I/O, the company showed how parents who want to know what's going on at their child's school can ask Gemini to summarize all recent emails from the school. In addition to the email body itself, this feature can also analyze attachments such as PDFs. The resulting summary includes key points and action items.
In another demo, Google showed off how Gemini in Gmail can help homeowners renovating their homes compare different quotes from contractors who send bids via email.
From the Gmail sidebar, users can ask Gemini to organize email receipts and save them to a Drive folder, or extract information from receipts and input them into a spreadsheet. If it happens often, for example, as a business traveler tracking expenses, Gemini can also automate your workflow for future use.
It remains to be seen whether Gmail users will want to enable AI technology in their inboxes. Previously, users were uncomfortable with the way Google scanned their emails for ad targeting purposes, even though the system was automated and didn't involve humans. There is now growing concern about how AI is being trained and how people's data is being used in the process. Gmail users may be uncomfortable with the idea that an AI can “read” their email, despite the benefits and efficiencies such a system brings.
In addition to scanning Gmail, Gemini can also draft emails, according to Google.
Elsewhere in the Workspace suite, Gemini will now be able to provide meeting highlights in Google Meet.
Image credit: TechCrunch
Gemini 1.5 Pro is available at Workspace Labs as an optional upgrade for those who want to try out its features.
Publish an AI newsletter. Sign up here to start receiving it in your inbox on June 5th.