Google is gradually integrating generative AI into Gmail, the world's most popular email service. New tools such as summarizing content, suggesting answers, searching for emails with natural questions or automatically creating a list of things to do are expected to help users manage their inbox more effectively.
However, that convenience leads to questions about how users' privacy will be protected when AI reads all emails?
In fact, this is not the first time Google has brought AI closer to users. About two years ago, the company displayed answers created by AI at the top of search results. Now, Gmail, one of the most stable and long-standing web services, has become the next front for this AI strategy.
Google is starting to deploy a series of AI-based features, the technology platform behind today's chatbots. Some tools are provided for free, while advanced features require users to pay registration fees.
Notably, "Mailbox to AI", a feature expected to be widely launched in the coming months. Instead of an endless email list, the system will analyze recent conversations, summarize important content and automatically propose action items. For mailboxes with tens of thousands of unread emails, this may be a real liberation.
During testing, the mailbox to AI shows quite effective information filtering capabilities. Marketing emails and spam are pushed back, giving way to specific tasks, such as replying to your child's school or completing medical forms. This turns the email checking experience from continuous manual operations into quickly viewing a summary.
In addition, Google also opens some tools that were previously only for paid AI users, such as suggested personalized answers. Gemini, Google's AI assistant, will analyze the writing style in old emails to create responses suitable for each user.
However, for these features to work, Gemini needs access to all incoming mailboxes. Google claims to have built protection measures to prevent employees from reading personal emails, but the fact that the AI system analyzes private data still worries many experts.
For many users, the key question is not what AI can do, but whether that convenience is worth sharing more personal data or not.
If widely applied, AI could create the biggest change for email in decades. But along with that utility revolution, the privacy problem is still a big test for Google and Gmail users.
