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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
Lifestyle
San Francisco - Asharq Al-Awsat

Google Bots Answer 10% of Gmail Messages

People pose with laptops in front of projection of Google logo in this picture illustration taken in Zenica. Photo: Reuters

Gmail's Smart Reply feature, which uses machine learning to automatically compose responses to emails, can be helpful or creepy, depending on whom you ask.

The feature suggests responses at the bottom of emails, such as "OK, sounds good" or "Thanks" to spare users a few seconds of typing.

It turns out Smart Reply is catching on. It's responsible for 10% of all responses on Gmail, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Thursday.

Google confirmed the figure to CNET. Gmail has more than one billion monthly active users.

Smart Reply first became available on the Inbox app in 2015 before rolling out to Gmail for Android and iOS in 2017. It drove 12% of all replies in the Inbox app in 2017, but that app doesn't have the same massive following as the Gmail app. Google said that it'll discontinue Inbox in March 2019.

For his part, Ajit Varma, Google's director of product management said Smart Reply has been getting positive feedback. Desktop users will also be able to opt out this feature in the coming weeks.

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