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Gmail Rolls Out AI-Powered Search (x.com)

(Thursday March 20, 2025 @06:00PM (msmash) from the how-about-that dept.)


Google is introducing an AI-powered update to Gmail search that prioritizes [1]"most relevant" results based on recency, frequent contacts, and most-clicked emails. The feature aims to help users more efficiently locate specific messages in crowded inboxes. The update is rolling out globally to personal Google accounts, with business accounts to follow at an unspecified date. Users will have the option to toggle between the new AI-powered "most relevant" search and the traditional reverse chronological "most recent" view.



[1] https://blog.google/products/gmail/gmail-search-update-relevant-emails/



I don't get it. (Score:2)

by ihavesaxwithcollies ( 10441708 )

> that prioritizes "most relevant" results based on recency, frequent contacts, and most-clicked emails.

Why can't you do that without AI? Why do you need "AI" to do that?

Pretty soon they're going to push an AI cash register that uses AI for plus and minus to figure out the total.

Re: (Score:2)

by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 )

Here's why.

Some kinds of searches are really difficult, with legacy search technology. Sometimes, the words you are looking for are too common, leading to thousands of irrelevant results. For example, search for "meeting with Doug about trip planning" might return all kinds of irrelevant meetings where Doug was one of the participants. Or "what hotel did we stay in in Miami" might not find anything because the address of the hotel was a suburb of Miami. AI is pretty good at finding what you're looking for,

Re: (Score:2)

by SEGT ( 880610 )

Are you an AI? Based on your response I'm seriously wondering. If I was for some reason going to look back at an email from 'doug' about planning a trip, I would search for emails with doug, then sort by date, and because I have a brain, I would remember the time frame that this occurred. I would find the email in seconds. Literally seconds. The hotel I stayed at in Miami? I would use my brain and just remember it, or, again, just remember the time frame, and perform a keyword search on my email, sorting vi

Re: (Score:2)

by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 )

> Why can't you do that without AI? Why do you need "AI" to do that?

Because current/potential shareholders like seeing AI... in the quarterly prospectus?

do not want (Score:2)

by toxonix ( 1793960 )

Thanks, reverse chronological is not just adequate, it's the most relevant.

The 3rd AI Winter can't arrive soon enough.

Wait, I've Seen This Before!! (Score:1)

by biomech ( 44405 )

Let's all just hope that the "search" engine is better at returning relevant results better than I run into looking for things on the Amazon marketplace.

Re: (Score:3)

by Zocalo ( 252965 )

Given the number of factually incorrect and, in a couple of cases, dangerously so, AI generated slop that I've seen bubble to the top of Google search results and into the Gemini AI section at the top, I wouldn't hold out much hope of that. I'll give it a try, but suspect I'll be looking for an "off" setting in fairly short order.

Assuming there is one, of course.

Crowded Inboxes (Score:2)

by devslash0 ( 4203435 )

Use AI to stop spam and automatically unsubscribe people from predatory and pointless marketing emails and the problem of crowded inboxes will go away. 95% of peoples inboxes is spam. The other 5% is purchase receipts.

Re: (Score:3)

by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 )

Trust me, you don't want to send unsubscribe notices to all those spammers. What you really did by sending the unsubscribe notices, was confirm to the spammer that your email address is actually in use. They'll just send you more, they already don't care that you don't want their spam.

Corrected headline (Score:2)

by sinij ( 911942 )

Google is training AI on your emails, possibly also using the results to model you.

Gmail search sucks. I'm sure it will get worse. (Score:2)

by TheMiddleRoad ( 1153113 )

Right now, when I search in Gmail, it returns synonyms and different spellings. The phone search is especially useless. I have to quote words half the time to find what I'm seeking. Enshitification.

Can it handle | characters? (Score:3)

by mlheur ( 212082 )

Gmail search fails to display any emails when one searches for subject:("something with | a pipe") even when right-clicking an existing message and selecting 'find messages with this subject'.

It's baffling how a company whose name is synonymous with the verb "to search" can fall so hard at searching through email.

Yay!!! (Score:2)

by dskoll ( 99328 )

Just what nobody asked for!

So much food; so little time!