Gemini AI in Gmail: From Smart Replies to Smart Scheduling

At its I/O event, Google revealed upgrades to Gmail’s smart replies, which will now use its Gemini AI to draw from both your inbox and Google Drive to craft more accurate and personalized responses. This enhancement allows smart replies to better reflect your communication style and tone, making responses more context-aware than ever before.

Previously, smart replies were limited to short suggestions that only considered the ongoing Gmail thread. With last year’s contextual update, replies became longer and more nuanced, but still confined to the specific conversation. Now, Gemini enables Gmail to tap into a broader context, accessing files and past emails to generate more informed and comprehensive replies. According to Blake Barnes, VP of Product at Google Workspace, Gemini can understand the situation at hand and reduce the need for users to manually search for relevant details, providing a much more efficient way to reply.

The AI’s ability to recognize tone and formality based on the recipient further personalizes interactions. In an email to a supervisor, it might provide a more formal response; in a letter to a friend, it might be more informal. Barnes emphasized that this shift moves AI from being generally helpful to being helpful in a way that feels tailor-made for each individual user.

Though Barnes didn’t share exact usage numbers for smart replies, he confirmed that many people already use the feature. However, like with all AI-generated content, users are encouraged to review suggestions before sending, especially when accuracy is critical.

Beginning with an early version in Google Labs in July, these improved smart answers will be made available in English on the web, iOS, and Android platforms. Full availability is expected in the third quarter of the year. The new features will be included in Google’s paid Workspace plans and the Google One AI Premium subscription, though there’s a chance they may become accessible to free Workspace users later on.

Google also announced additional AI-powered tools for Gmail, such as an “inbox cleanup” function to delete emails from specific senders and a meeting scheduler that suggests times directly from your calendar. Both are slated for release in Q3. Other Workspace updates include speech translation in Google Meet, AI avatars for Google Vids, and improved document summarization in Google Docs through Gemini.