Gmail’s Smart Reply

Ever get tired of typing responses to emails? Well, Google’s got you covered. This article from the Washington Post tells about a new feature on Google’s gmail app. Last week, users could use smart reply, a feature that gives automatic responses to an email. Gmail uses algorithms and scans your email to suggest appropriate responses. Right now, the feature isn’t perfect. AI isn’t able to detect jokes, or hidden meanings, so sometimes the response doesn’t make sense in the context.

When I read the article, I thought it was creepy and scary how Gmail could respond to your emails for you. Although the article says that no one from Google is reading your email and that users can turn off the feature, the whole idea still creeps me out. But it does bring up another question. Is letting AI respond to you emails for you respectful to the original sender? And are we becoming so lazy that we don’t want to communicate with each other? Or is this just an incredibly convenient feature? I chose this story because I thought it reported on a relevant topic.

To read the article, click here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/05/19/do-you-say-thanks-or-thanks-google-will-tailor-suggested-email-replies-to-your-preferences/?utm_term=.309a2f53bd27