This summer, Gmail's billion-plus users received a new chill-but-efficient way to answer emails: Smart Reply.
Smart Reply is Gmail's suggested response feature. At the bottom of received emails, Gmail serves three short phrases that its AI has determined are appropriate and relevant responses. Popular responses are phrases like "Awesome," or "Sounds good, let me know."
SEE ALSO:Google's big Gmail update makes your inbox smarter and more secureThe feature was initially available just in the Inbox app, but rolled out in the new version of Gmail to all users in July.
As the Wall Street Journalreported Thursday, the responses sometimes sound anachronistic, curt, or out of character for the writers. Personally, I can't decide whether Google frequently suggesting phrases that I myself was about to write is helpful or irksome. I have also wondered whether saving a few seconds of not having to type "ok, sounds good" is worth letting a robot mediate my interactions with other humans. Or if the impulse to hit a button instead of form a thought could in some way stymie my own expression, even in rote communications.
Despite user misgivings, smart reply is catching on. The Journalreports that smart replies constitute 10 percent of all messages sent over Gmail.
Smart reply first rolled out in the soon-to-be-defunct Inbox app in 2015. As of May 2017, twelve percent of all messages sent on Inbox were smart replies. But that was just in an offshoot app; 10 percent of all emails on the billion user-strong Gmail is much more significant. We've reached out to Google to ask how much of an increase the 10 percent figure constitutes, and will update this when and if we hear back.
But even with a conservative estimate, 10 percent of all Gmails is huge. Gmail users comprise over a quarter of all email users, and we the humans of earth send 269 billion emails every day. That means that smart replies account for at least 6.7 billion emails flying through the tubes on a daily basis. Through smart reply, Google has guided millions of us on humanity's path to embrace the robots.
TopicsArtificial IntelligenceGoogle
(责任编辑：知識)
Snapchat is about to explode in popularity, report says
Dancing kakapo GIF takes over the Imgur front page; wins all the hearts
This otherwise lovely proposal may have also escalated a sibling rivalry
How to play 'Pokémon Go' if you live in the suburbsFiji wins firstThis German startup wants to be your bank (without being a bank)
BERLIN -- “That is f*cking clever,” said Ben Floyd, 33, as we sat in a trendy cafe in Be
...[详细]'The Night Of' destroys alliances and tries to build more
The Night Of's fourth episode opens with a shot of the charred remains of Naz's prison bed.That one
...[详细]Fullscreen's new show is like a political 'Real World' for millennials
LOS ANGELES -- Politics get real -- literally -- in Fullscreen's new reality seres House Divided. Th
...[详细]3 simple ways to avoid making big mistakes as a teen using social media
Social media may connect and empower a teenager, but it can also become a permanent record of a youn
...[详细]Plane makes emergency landing after engine rips apart during flight
A Southwest Airlines flight bound for Orlando, Florida, made an emergency landing Saturday morning d
...[详细]This otherwise lovely proposal may have also escalated a sibling rivalry
Even in romance, timing is everything.Eric Myers, who lives in London, posted footage of his proposa
...[详细]This otherwise lovely proposal may have also escalated a sibling rivalry
Even in romance, timing is everything.Eric Myers, who lives in London, posted footage of his proposa
...[详细]Staaker may be the smartest extreme sports drone yet
It was only 8 a.m., but the sun was already baking portions of Central Park’s Sheep Meadow whe
...[详细]Researchers create temporary tattoos you can use to control your devices
In the future, your tattoos could be much more than just ink designs.。Scientists have created a new
...[详细]Netflix went down and 'Stranger Things' fans were VERY upset
If you're into amazing, 80's-inspired television, you may have spent your weekend freaking out becau
...[详细]Katy Perry talks 'Rise,' her next batch of songs, and how to survive Twitter
Staaker may be the smartest extreme sports drone yet