This week we will look at a couple of additional Gmail features. Since you asked for them, I am happy to continue giving you Gmail extras for a few more weeks.
As I told you previously, when I ask you to go to Gmail’s settings (unless I tell you differently), do the following. Click the gear icon in the upper-right corner and then “See all settings.”
The first today is “Smart Reply.” When this is on and you reply to an email, it will offer you appropriate choices for a reply. We see frequently it in the Gmail phone app, but it also works on your computer. At the bottom of your reply, there will be several blue phrases. If you see one that makes sense, you can click it and it will put it in the email. They are always short phrases, like, “Thanks,” “You’re welcome,” “Enjoy,” etc. The theory is this will make you more productive in your work with quick responses. I find I can type any of those responses faster than I can look at the replies at the bottom, choose one, and then finally, click my choice. I will instruct you how to cut this feature on or off below as the next feature, “Smart Compose” is controlled similarly.
Smart Compose is like Smart Reply as it helps you write by making suggestions for you as you type. Whereas, I am not a big fan of the reply feature; I find Smart Compose beneficial. As you type, it “thinks” ahead a few words at a time and tries to add what makes “sense” to the algorithm. If you like the choice, as it fills in ahead of the cursor as you type, hit the tab key and it will add the text to your sentence. For instance, when I put an email address in the TO area of the email, say to Jim Britt, then type “Hey” it will automatically suggest “Hey, Jim.” By pressing the tab key, it adds that text to the sentence. If I dislike the choice given, I keep typing as usual and the suggestion vanishes. I may type something like, “Let’s get together next…” and it may offer the word, “week” which again the tab key will enter it and any other key will continue working. There are two settings for Smart Compose, the second is called Smart Compose “personalization.” If you use that feature, Google’s algorithm will try to learn from your past writing and try to predict phrases you use and complete your sentences with those. It is supposed to get better with time. However, I have been using Smart Compose since it began and see a few personalized completions.
To cut either of these on or off, go to the Gmail Settings (check the second paragraph in this article) and scroll down to Smart Compose. Click the on or off button as you prefer. The controls for the personalization option are directly below it. While you are there, the Smart Reply On/Off boxes are a couple below the compose choices. Try them out or cut them off. The choice is yours.
Many people find these features beneficial, while others are afraid of them. They are worried that Google is reading all of their email. I agree that their machine learning (algorithm, mentioned earlier) is scanning and using it. However, they do not have people reading emails. Most all “free” programs get something in return. Google gets your email for “improving” its capabilities. It does not concern me since I am not typing secret treasured messages, but if you are…use something else.
