Even your Gmail inbox isn't safe from AI features

Summary

Google is using AI to assess Gmail search queries for more relevant results.
AI-powered Most Relevant inbox sorting is rolling out globally.
Users can opt-out and switch back to Most Recent for chronological view.

Whether we like it or not, it seems like everything is getting AI right now — and if you thought your Gmail inbox was safe from the grip of artificial intelligence, well, you’re wrong.

Google has announced a Gmail update that utilizes AI to assess inbox search queries, with recent, contacts, and the most-clicked in mind. Most Relevant is rolling out globally now to personal Gmail accounts, so if it hasn’t appeared for you yet, it should soon. The feature will also eventually make its way to business accounts.

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At least this seems useful, right?

Nothing appears to be safe from AI

Thankfully, if you don’t want AI in your Gmail inbox, you can opt out of using this feature. There will still be an option to turn Most Relevant back to Most Recent to see your inbox in the expected reverse chronological order. Earlier this month, Google also added new AI features to its search and shopping platforms.

I’m not the biggest fan of AI, but given I have a Gmail inbox with roughly 75,000 emails, I can see this being useful, especially when I’m looking for a very email thread from a few years ago.

You can find Google’s full breakdown of Most Relevant here.