Google adds new AI features to Gmail, turning it into a personal assistant

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Category: Technology/Innovations

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Unlocking Word Meanings

Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

  1. pivotal / ˈpɪv ə tl / (adj.) – very important and central
    Example:

    The meeting was a pivotal moment in deciding the company’s future.


  2. personalize / ˈpɜr sə nlˌaɪz / (v.) – to design or change something so that it is suitable for a particular person, based on their style or preferences
    Example:

    Many online stores personalize product suggestions so that each customer sees what is most interesting to them.


  3. burnish / ˈbɜr nɪʃ / (v.) – to improve something so that it becomes better
    Example:

    The editor helped burnish the article by fixing small punctuation and language problems.


  4. conversational / ˌkɒn vərˈseɪ ʃə nl / (adj.) – relating to, or similar to, casual or informal conversation
    Example:

    In our group, we practiced conversational English by talking about our weekend plans.


  5. sift / sɪft / (v.) – to examine information, documents, or things carefully in order to find what is important or useful
    Example:

    She will sift through the papers to find the report she needs.


Article

Read the text below.

More artificial intelligence is being implanted into Gmail as Google tries to turn the world’s most popular email service into a personal assistant that can improve writing, summarize far-flung information buried in inboxes, and deliver daily to-do lists.


The new AI features announced could herald a pivotal moment for Gmail, a service that transformed email when it was introduced nearly 22 years ago. Since then, Gmail has amassed more than 3 billion users to become nearly as ubiquitous as Google’s search engine.


Gmail’s new AI options will only be available in English within the United States for starters, but the company is promising to expand the technology to other countries and other languages as the year unfolds.


The most broadly available tool will be a “Help Me Write” option designed to learn a user’s writing style so it can personalize emails and make real-time suggestions on how to burnish the message.


Google is also offering subscribers who pay for its Pro and Ultra services access to technology that mirrors the AI Overviews that have been built into its search engine since 2023. The expansion will enable subscribers to pose conversational questions in Gmail’s search bar to get instant answers about information they are trying to retrieve from their inboxes.


In what could turn into another revolutionary step, “AI Inbox” is also being rolled out to a subset of “trusted testers” in the U.S. When it’s turned on, the function will sift through inboxes and suggest to-do lists and topics that users might want to explore.


“This is us delivering on Gmail proactively having your back,” said Blake Barnes, a Google vice president of product.


All of the new technology is tied to Google’s latest AI model, Gemini 3, which was unleashed into its search engine late last year. The upgrade, designed to turn Google search into a “thought partner,” has been so well received that it prompted OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company makes the popular ChatGPT chatbot, to issue a “code red” following its release.


This article was provided by The Associated Press.


Viewpoint Discussion

Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A

  • Gmail’s AI tools are designed to help users improve their writing and make real-time suggestions based on their style. In your experience, what parts of writing emails are the most difficult or stressful? How could AI suggestions help in these situations, and when might they be unhelpful or cause problems? Discuss.
  • Gmail’s AI can learn a user’s writing style and help personalize messages. If more people rely on AI to help write emails, how do you think this could affect tone, manner, and personal voice in emails at work or in personal messages? Overall, do you see this as a positive or negative change? Why do you say so? Discuss.

Discussion B

  • Many companies are trying to turn AI into a personal assistant that helps manage tasks, messages, and daily plans. How do you feel about the idea of having an AI personal assistant in your everyday life? What about it seems useful to you? What about it might feel unsafe? Discuss.
  • If you could design your own AI personal assistant, what kind of help would you want it to give you most? What daily tasks would you trust it with? What tasks would you still prefer to do yourself? Discuss.