Google has been on a mission to power up all of its core services and products with Gemini, and it’s been doing a good job at it so far. We’ve been able to access some sort of Gemini functionality through Android, Google Messages, Docs, Sheets, etc. One of those services is Gmail. Not too long ago, Google unveiled some neat Gemini-powered AI tools to Gmail on Android and on the web. Here’s how Gemini can make using Gmail so much easier.
Before getting into this, there’s a chance that you don’t have access to some of the tools that are in the article. Google is testing out these features with select users, and many of them have opted in to try them out through the company’s Workspace Labs program. This is an invite-only program, so it’s not guaranteed to work for everyone. At the time of writing this, Google is trickling some features to the general public.
To check if you’re a part of the program, go to the Gmail website or app and check if you see the Gemini star logo at the top of the screen. If you see it, then you can use Gemini in Gmail.
How Gemini can make using Gmail better
Gmail has always had some neat and intuitive features, but Gemini brings them to a new level. It’s an all-in-one platform to help you boost productivity, save time, and find emails easier. If you gain access to Gemini, then you’ll want to try them out to see how they can benefit you.
Email summarization
Let’s start with a pretty standard feature. Most AI tools on the market come with some sort of summarization function. It’s one of the most popular functions for AI platforms.
If you have to read a long and drawn-out email, and you don’t want to read it to get a good idea of what’s going on, you can use Gemini to help you out. It can create a short and succinct summary of the contents of the email.
To use this feature, open the email that you want to have summarized and click/tap on the Gemini button. There’s a chance that you will see a button with the text “What’s this email about” or “Summarize this email”. If not, then just type “summarize this email” in the text field. After a few seconds, you’ll see a neat and organized list of bullet points describing what it’s about.
What makes this feature neat is the fact that it’s not confined to individual emails. You can use it to boil down full email chains. It will give you a rundown of everything discussed in them.
Customized responses
There’s no one-size-fits-all response. Say, Gemini gives you a summary, but you need more details or don’t like the bullet point style. Well, you can just say so. You’re able to tell Gemini how you want the response presented.
Just type something like “Make it longer,” and Gemini will regenerate the response with more details. You can also do the opposite if you want a more succinct response. Another example is “Put it in paragraph form” if you want it like that.
The sky is the limit with how you can summarize your emails.
Advanced email search
It’s so easy to lose certain emails when your inbox constantly gets flooded. Oftentimes, we completely forget where certain emails are in our inbox after so much time has passed.
This is where Gemini can come in. In all honesty, this feature might be a bit underwhelming to most, but you have to really dig into it. Summon the Gemini side panel and type what types of emails you want it to search for. You can type, “find emails about dogs”, and it will surface those results for you. The thing about it is that you can accomplish the same thing by typing “dog” in the search bar. So, why use Gemini?
Well, Gemini is a little smarter. When you type something in the search bar, it will do a search for that word specifically. However, Gemini will give you more fleshed-out results depending on what you type in. For example, if you type “find me emails about sales,” you’ll see search results with keywords like “Sale”, “Discount”, “Deal”, and other words. It will combine all of them into one result.
Filter your emails
Using Gemini, you can look for different types of emails and emails from different time periods. If you want it to show you your unread emails, you can ask it to do so. Also, if you want it to show you emails from a certain date or date range, you can simply type that into the text bar.
Find the status of your orders
You can use Gemini to get an update on your recent orders. Since you’re likely to get order updates through your email, you will be able to use Gemini to dig them up.
Just type something like “What’s the status of my T-Mobile order.” Gemini will find the email with that information, and it will tell you the order status. It will also tell you the date that the information was updated.
For this feature, Gemini won’t surface the email, it will just tell you the information.
Help you craft an email
If you’re looking to write an email, and you’re having some trouble, Gemini can help. When you click on the Compose email button, you’ll see the Help me write feature. If you’re using the mobile version, you’ll swipe to the left to access the tool. On the website, you’ll see the little blue pencil icon at the bottom of the screen.
If you’ve used a chatbot, then you should know what you’re doing here. Just describe what kind of email you want Gemini to write for you. You can be as descriptive as you want for the email. Describe the people involved, subject matter, overall mood, urgency, etc. You can type something like:
“Write an email to Dianne Greenwood (who is a PR rep for the company Splaz Gear) about how I appreciate her offer to review the new Dynamo S1 speaker, but due to some massive schedule conflicts, and a death in my family (my grandmother), I won’t be able to write the review. Sound apologetic and let her know that I am free to review future devices from the company. Also, let her know that my schedule will open up on September 26th.”
It will craft you the email to fit what you described.
Refining
After you generate your email, you’re able to make refinements to it. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a few options under a Refine button menu like Formalize, Elaborate, and Shorten. Formalize will give the email a more professional tone, Elaborate will make it longer, and Shorten will make it shorter. These options are only available for the website version. They may make it to the app version eventually.
At the top of the screen, you’ll see the option to remake your prompt if you want to change the outcome that way.
More Gemini features will come out as time goes on, and this article will be updated to reflect the new changes.
