Google launches Gemini’s contextual smart replies in Gmail

When Google rolled out Gemini side panels for Gmail and its other Workspace apps, it revealed that its generative AI chatbot will also be able to offer contextual smart replies for its email service in the future. Now, the company has officially released that feature. Smart replies have existed in Gmail since 2017, giving you a quick, albeit impersonal, way to respond to messages, even if you’re in a hurry or on the go. These machine-generated responses are pretty limited, though, and they’re often just one liners to tell the recipient that you understand what they’re saying or that you agree with whatever they’re suggesting.

The new Gemini-generated smart replies take the full content of the email thread into consideration. While you may still have to edit them a bit if you want them to be as close to something you’d write as possible, they are more detailed and more personable. When you get the feature, you’ll see several response options at the bottom of your screen when you reply through the Gmail app. Just hover over each of them to get a detailed preview before choosing one that you think makes for the best response.

You’ll get access to the feature if you have a Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education or Education Premium add-on, or if you have a Google One AI Premium subscription. Google says it could take up to 15 days before you see Gemini’s smart replies in your app — just make sure you’ve ticked on “Smart features and personalization” in your Gmail app’s Settings page.