Turned off by default in EEA, UK, Japan and Switzerland, for anyone interested (had to login to find out).
Gemini will now automatically summarize your long emails unless you opt out
Submitted 10 months ago by Pro@programming.dev to technology@lemmy.world
https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/05/gemini-summary-cards-gmail-app.html?m=1
Comments
killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 9 months ago
mrpres@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
Anyone wondering what they have in common: EU (i know its not the same as EEA, there are countries like Iceland non-member of EU but part of EEA and they have their own GDPR through their own Private Act) has GDPR, Japan has APPI, UK has UK-GDPR, Switzerland has FADP
Whats intriguing is that Canada has DCIA and Brazil has LGPD and I don’t see it being mentioned to be turned off by default in either countries
nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
buy a computer
put my data in there
computer computes my data too muchFUCK
cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
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buy domain
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buy hosting
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get email
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use thunderbird
mrpres@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
Would having aliases be a good way to bypass when a website denies your emails from your domain (which is known occurrence for who self-hosts their own email system)?
atlien51@lemm.ee 9 months ago
Your new dentist/GP practice when you try to sign up?
@ Thunderbird? What is that?
iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.com 9 months ago
I run my own email and I have to say I wouldn’t recommend it.
The biggest hassle is dealing with either Spamhaus or Microsoft, who apparently at random decide to put my IPs on blacklist, and who provide hurdles to working around this (for Spamhaus) or just say “no” (for Microsoft).
kokomo@lemmy.kokomo.cloud 10 months ago
Mega brain move right here. Combined with a multitude of open source web mail clients and ur golden. SOGo and roundcube my beloved.
cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 months ago
that takes me back to mid 2000s and horde webmail :)
mrpres@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
solid recommendations roundcube is goat
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BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Cool, how do I disable this shit feature?
donalonzo@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Stop using the shit service.
Retro_unlimited@lemmy.world 10 months ago
So this is why I got an email that was completely wrong.
I told a guy I used to work for that I moved and it’s the perfect place to help him and his company.
He replied that he hopes I found a house where I used to live.
wtf it’s like he never read the email at all, now that this AI trash was added, the email makes sense.
I guess he is fucked and doesn’t get the help he needs for his company.
reksas@sopuli.xyz 10 months ago
Would opting out actually do anything here except keep you from using the feature? Pretty certainly they will still let the ai read your emails if there is any benefit to google in it, but you just wont be seeing the summary.
MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
If you read the article, it says this only applies to people that already have premium google office stuff already. The 90% of people with regular gmail accounts aren’t affected by this. For now at least.
jjlinux@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
Well, let’s break it down with a little humor and a nod to the inevitable AI email overlords!
Sure, the article points out that the premium Google Workspace users get a special treatment—like being offered champagne instead of soda—but if you’re part of the 90% rolling with regular Gmail, you’re still enjoying your familiar, free soda pop (for now). However, don’t get too comfortable: whether you’re sipping premium champagne or pop, Google’s AI is always lurking in the background, ready to “swallow” your emails and extract insights like a digital detective. In other words, even if you’re not part of the fancy club, your emails are still part of the grand data buffet.
So while the article might claim it’s all rainbows and free soda for most, the truth is that Google is perfecting their AI trick regardless of your account type. It’s like distinguishing between first-class and economy on a flight—different levels of service, but everyone’s still on the same plane, and the in-flight entertainment (that is, AI data crunching) is serving up free snacks to all!
kazerniel@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Ok this is the first step where I feel an actual urge to look for Gmail alternatives. I’m a desktop-only Gmail user, but I can see where this is going… :/ Also heavy user of Google Drive and Sheets, so it’s going to be annoying if I have to replace all of them :/
6nk06@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
For me it was: Gmail to Tuta, Drive to Filen.io (some cheap German guys). But Sheets would be the most difficult. Maybe Zoho or Infomaniak? Infomaniak has the complete package IIRC.
kazerniel@lemmy.world 10 months ago
thanks, I’ll check them out!
ikidd@lemmy.world 10 months ago
You go ahead and waste resources on summarizing the 200 emails a day in my spam account, you fucking morons.
winkerjadams@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 months ago
I agree fuck Google but also poor earth :(
jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 10 months ago
Most email is short. I don’t see a need to summarize it. Google is run by idiots and assholes.
iknowitwheniseeit@lemmynsfw.com 9 months ago
I put a tl;dr sentence or two at the top of any e-mail more than a couple of paragraphs. Sometimes for those too.
funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
ive actually used it at work for stuff like “when did Wendy approve the design? did she send it to brian?” when I have 5 different email threads over 3 different organizations, with 10 different respondees. But in personal use I would never.
dermanus@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
If mine could do that “find me the approval email for x last week” I’d use it, but if outlook had a decent search I wouldn’t need it.
Ushmel@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I’d settle for AI clipping out everyone’s redundant signatures, .gif logos, comic sans bible quotes, and everything else packed into email that people use as direct messaging. Or my coworkers could just use WebEx for chats instead of emails.
Evotech@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Ai will write complicated long mails, you’ll need an Ai to summarise it
kazerniel@lemmy.world 10 months ago
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
If an email needs to be summarized, I’m not going to read it anyway.
doodledup@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Why would you use Gmail in the first place?
6nk06@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
I have a Google account at work with the domain name of the company. The AI is annoying and I wished they used something else.
kazerniel@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Do any other email services/clients have a very similar search function? Where I can search for date ranges and email sizes in addition to the more typical operators.
At my workplace I have to deal with Outlook, and it’s a pile of crap in comparison.
doodledup@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Use Thunderbird as a client with any email service. Thunderbird has all the features you want.
dumbpotato@lemmy.cafe 10 months ago
I have been moving away from all of the big name companies for big name products.
It’s a shame, because I used to be very supportive of Google.
jjlinux@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
Ex-Google fan boy here. Been riding the fuck Google wagon for about 7 years now, no regrets, and certain I’m missing out on absolutely nothing. Moving away from all these self-serving BS “tech giants” is the smartest and healthiest move anyone can do.
Zaphod@discuss.tchncs.de 10 months ago
That’s ok :) All my important mails go to proton
Natanael@infosec.pub 10 months ago
The Proton owner is Trump-y. Tuta is another option
jjlinux@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
Show us the evidence of this claim about “Proton owner”. And yes, Tuta is great, I agree on that.
Zexks@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I can’t go changing my email every time a ceo flips a switch and goes crazy. Your all gonna have to find something better than ‘just try this other one’
dumbpotato@lemmy.cafe 10 months ago
We should also be boycotting businesses that support establishment democrats.
aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
The only thing I use my Google Account for is my TV. I haven’t logged into my gmail in years.
jjlinux@lemmy.ml 9 months ago
Where are you? From your comment, I’m sure you live in my house 🤣
Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Consider me opted
secret300@lemmy.sdf.org 10 months ago
How the hell can they even afford that?! There are so many Gmail users and so many emails a second and Gemini will summarize them all? That sounds so expensive and like a waste of resources
doodledup@lemmy.world 10 months ago
They probably use a smaller model for summarizing.
TotallynotJessica@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
It is, but the bubble mustn’t burst or the grifters will stop making money selling “the end of skilled labor” to braindead capitalists.
dumbpotato@lemmy.cafe 10 months ago
Actually, investment in AI is necessary for competing with other nations.
The “end of skilled labor” selling point is just to cover up that fact that we need AI because other nations will have it.
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Google makes a lot of money, and summarising stuff uses a surprisingly small amount of energy. You can do it trivially on-device on a laptop and on plenty of phones.
When it comes to LLMs, training the models is generally the thing that requires ridiculous amounts of energy.
This is dumb as fuck, though. I don’t want Google’s LLM to miss out critical details in my emails. That shit could be important. If people want this they should opt in.
Maxxie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
A single message now generates 20 different summaries and analyses, requiring a rack of GPUs and a diesel generator.
We’re so lucky that electricity is unlimited and free, otherwise it might’ve caused a serious problem.
kshade@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Don’t worry, this stuff is why companies like Google want to build and run their own nuclear power plants. What could possibly go wrong?
lepinkainen@lemmy.world 10 months ago
The only place I’d want AI summaries is rambling YouTube videos
Make it a premium subscription extra
boonhet@lemm.ee 10 months ago
That’s already a thing!
And I believe it’s free.
Scolding7300@lemmy.world 10 months ago
End users: To access Gemini summary cards, users need to have smart features and personalization smart features in Gmail, Chat, and Meet and smart features in Google Workspace turned on. Visit the Help Center to learn more about collaborating with Gemini in Gmail.
Sounds like it’s an opt in, what am I missing
kazerniel@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Sounds like it’s an opt in, what am I missing
Because it’s a clear step on the enshittification slide. It’s opt in for now.
atrielienz@lemmy.world 10 months ago
If you already had smart replies or similar enabled (they were available before Gemini hit the scene) then you have to go opt out.
Scolding7300@lemmy.world 10 months ago
That makes sense
biofaust@lemmy.world 10 months ago
And that’s why I set up forwarding from Gmail and Outlook to my new Tuta account.
In a few months I should be free, happily paying for EU alternative were the default swipe gesture stands for delete instead of archive.
MajesticElevator@lemmy.zip 10 months ago
Forwarding in itself doesn’t do shit as they still have your mail
But yea that’s nice I guess
I would also use a mail alias service so you get more privacy and can switch mail host whenever you want
biofaust@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Both of the services have the option to delete all forwarded messages. This is simply the best first step in order to be able to review what accounts still work with the old addresses (via inbox rules) and slowly change them. I use addy.io for mail aliasing already, but that is not really related to gaining independence from those companies.
sic_semper_tyrannis@lemmy.today 10 months ago
More opt outs… Everyone, just opt out of big tech
Jimmycakes@lemmy.world 10 months ago
We should opt into little tech. A guy in Venezuela just trying to buy a couple days food will read your email and summarize it for you!
greatwhitebuffalo41@slrpnk.net 10 months ago
This made me think of the South Park episode where they’re hiring people to replace the Amazon Alexa and stuff.
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
How long before people get complaints about something said in the summary which is incorrect?
OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Unless I opt out of Gmail? Yep, already done.
hddsx@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Meh. I can’t find a good sub for YouTube and Gmail is my “uh oh did I mess up my email server back”.
I’ve been considering hush mail. I don’t like Europe. I’d rather move to Canadian
muusemuuse@lemm.ee 10 months ago
Canada isn’t going to be a safe bet in the long run. They have a reprieve for now but they always end up doing whatever America does just a few years later.
Ulrich@feddit.org 10 months ago
In reply to all of the complaints here: I’ve never seen anything about Gemini on my Graphene OS device. 🤷♂️
MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 10 months ago
But your recipient uses it.
null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 months ago
Exactly.
Communication with people is hard enough already without an LLM deciding what parts are important.
Idiots using LLMs to write emails to people using LLMs to summarise them. It’s just slop all the way down.
TherapyGary@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 months ago
I’m surprised so many people who probably use Linux use a stock operating system on their phones
zqps@sh.itjust.works 10 months ago
Despite efforts to the contrary, PC is still an inherently far more open platform than any mobile device.
InnerScientist@lemmy.world 10 months ago
in the Gmail app on Android and iOS devices
At least it isn’t my turn yet
cygnus@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
FWIW I use Fastmail and it works great.
manxu@piefed.social 10 months ago
It's so weird that we have to go through hoops and loops to get rid of this stuff! I was sick of my Android responding to a long press of the power button, meant to shut it down, with a Gemini prompt. Took me an hour to figure out I can't get rid of the function, but I can switch back (for now) to old style Google Assistant.
If you have to force functionality down your users' throat despite them not wanting it, you already lost. Gemini is Google's Clippy, just less iconic and more also-ran.
homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Eat more AI! We’ve spent hundreds of billions of dollars on this fucking garbage, so EAT IT! Yeah! It’s in your email! It’s in your car! IT’S IN YOUR TEETH (launch date: Q2 2026)!
dinckelman@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Why is it never the other way around? I’m sick of EULA updates silently enrolling me into things i never asked for
bluewing@lemm.ee 9 months ago
Gemini has popped up pnce since it became a thing. I simply clicked no and it’s gone away. So hopefully it stays away.
Jack_Burton@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Unfortunately not. That’s like saying “A burglar put a spycam in my house once. I simply said no and he removed it. So hopefully it stays that way”. It’s there, you just can’t see it now.