If you’re making use of Gmail’s Smart Replies feature more often than not, we’re happy to let you know that the functionality got even better with the help of Gemini.
The Smart Reply feature was originally introduced seven years ago and it’s using Google’s machine learning to suggest three quick replies to emails based on the email’s content.
Although the feature saved people a lot of time, it has its limitations, especially if you’re the kind of person that loves longer than one sentence replies. So, Google is trying to further boost the functionality of the Smart Reply feature with Gemini.
If you want to respond with more than a simple “Sounds good to me!” or “Yes, I’m working on it,” then the new Gemini-related feature specifically designed for Gmail, contextual Smart Replies, will help you get more detailed responses to better fit the intent of your message.
To start using the new Gemini feature, simply initiate an email reply and you’ll be offered a few response options at the bottom of the screen, which should be much richer than Gmail provided before the integration of the contextual Smart Replies.
Gmail’s new contextual Smart Reply feature powered by Gemini | Screenshot credit: Google
You’ll then be able to hover over each response to get a quick preview of the text and select the one that you think works best. It’s also possible to edit the response provided by Gemini for even better results.
With the new contextual Smart Reply feature, Google hopes that Gmail users will save even more time when responding to emails, as well as make their inbox management much easier.
In order to take advantage of contextual Smart Reply, you must enable “Smart features and personalization” in Gmail. As far as availability goes, Google announced that the rollout of this feature might take longer than two weeks starting today, so be on the lookout for contextual Smart Reply anytime during this timeframe.
It’s also important to mention that contextual Smart Reply is only available to Google Workspace customers with the following add-ons: Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium, as well as Google One AI Premium.