Right now, there is a set of the most basic functions that AI tools can do, and one of them is summarize. Most of the chatbots and models on the market can do that, as it’s a pretty popular feature. The Gmail app is soon getting a summarize feature. There’s just one catch.
People have been able to access a summarize tool in Gmail through the Ask Gemini side panel. The company has been testing out this feature for a few months, and it’s currently rolling out to paid workspace users. You can only access it if you agreed to try it out.
When you’re in Google Gmail/Docs/Sheets/Drive/Slides, you’ll see a little Gemini button in the top right corner of the screen. When you do that, you’ll see a panel appear. You’ll see a text field at the bottom to put in your query, but you’ll also see it automatically summarize what’s on the screen.
The Gmail app is getting a summarize feature
This feature is pretty straightforward. If you’re in a lengthy email thread, and you don’t have the time to read everything, then a summarize tool could be useful. It will give you a concise rundown of the important points in an email thread.
For this feature to work, you’ll need to be in a thread with more than two replies. So, it looks like the tool won’t work on individual emails. In any case, it’s still a very useful tool to have.
When you tap on a thread, you’ll see a little “Summarize with Gemini” button appear above it. Once you tap it, you’ll see the Gemini panel appear at the bottom of the screen. It won’t only summarize the thread, but it will also give you the option to put in more queries.
This is useful, but what’s the catch?
Hey, you thought you were getting this feature for free? Google’s currently rolling this feature out for paying customers. You’ll need to either have a workspace subscription or a Google One AI Premium subscription.
If you have one of those subscriptions, then you should be seeing it pop up within the next couple of weeks.
