Gmail update uses AI to identify, alert users of high priority emails

Image: Gmail via AFP Relaxnews

Email notifications are a never-ending story for so many, cluttering the screen and distracting us, when most of the time they really aren’t that urgent. And no, the answer is not to turn off notifications altogether, as that simply isn’t an option for many.

What if there were a way to filter out the “it can wait” type of emails and only get an alert for the more important or urgent messages? Well, Google is attempting just that with its AI technology.

Gmail already offers the option to just get notified of emails that fall into the Primary category; however, that may still invite a lot of pings. Now, the app is rolling out a new way for iOS users to filter everything but “High-priority emails,” therefore only getting alerted if emails are marked ‘important.’

In a blog post from G Suites, the company says that “these notifications leverage Gmail’s machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities to identify messages you may want to read first.”

For the moment, this ability to select “High priority only” has only started rolling out to the iOS Gmail app and should be visible in the next couple of days; however, the announcement does say that it will come to Android devices soon and the company hopes “this feature makes your Gmail notifications relevant — not just noise.” JB

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