Gemini Automatically Summarizes Emails: Opt-Out or Get Ready for AI-Powered Synopses

Google is rolling out a significant update to Gmail, integrating its AI assistant, Gemini, more deeply into your inbox. The headline? Automatic email summary cards. Instead of manually prompting Gemini to summarize lengthy email threads, the AI will now proactively generate summaries at the top of your emails, saving you time and effort. This was announced on Thursday.

Previously, users could leverage Gemini in Gmail’s side panel to summarize email threads, draft responses, and access other AI-powered tools. Now, Google is automating the summary process, bringing AI to the forefront of your email experience.

However, this move raises questions about user control and the reliability of AI-generated content. While convenient, AI summaries are not always perfect. Instances like Apple’s AI summaries for news notifications, which were later paused due to inaccuracies, highlight the potential pitfalls aren’t always reliable.

Google’s own AI Overviews feature in Search has also faced scrutiny for providing inaccurate or low-quality information. own AI Overviews feature for Search hasmistakes.

Despite potential inaccuracies, the new Gemini email summary cards aim to provide a quick overview of long emails, updating the synopsis as new replies arrive.

The manual summary option will remain available as a chip at the top of emails and in the Gemini side panel.

Currently, the feature is limited to English emails.

Depending on your location, summary cards may be enabled or disabled by default. Users in the EU, UK, Switzerland, and Japan will have smart features disabled by default. You can manage this feature in Gmail’s Settings under “Smart features.”

Workspace admins also have the ability to disable personalization settings for users through the Admin console by following this tutorial enable or disable the feature