Google Enables AI Assistant Gemini to Draw Information From Emails and Photos

Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) assistant Gemini can now help some users by accessing information from the Google apps Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube and Search.

The company launched this Personal Intelligence capability as a beta in the United States on Wednesday (Jan. 14) and will roll it out to eligible Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S. over the next week, according to a Wednesday blog post.

Over time, Google will expand Personal Intelligence to more countries and to the free tier, the post said.

Personal Intelligence personalizes Gemini by connecting to Google apps and drawing information from emails, photos and videos.

“It often combines these, working across text, photos and video to provide uniquely tailored answers,” Josh Woodward, vice president, Google Labs, Gemini and AI Studio, said in the post.

For example, it can find the license plate number of the user’s vehicle from a photo of the vehicle, and it can suggest vacation destinations based on the user’s interests expressed in emails, the post said.

Users can help improve the model and the results it delivers by asking it where it got the information from, giving it a “thumbs down” or telling the assistant what it got wrong.

To preserve the user’s privacy, Personal Intelligence is off by default and will connect to the user’s apps only if they choose to activate it. The user can select which apps to connect and can turn it off at any time.

“And because this data already lives at Google securely, you don’t have to send sensitive data elsewhere to start personalizing your experience,” Woodward said. “This is a key differentiator.”

In addition, Personal Intelligence has guardrails for sensitive information such as health, and Gemini does not train on the Gmail inbox or Photos library, according to the post.

PYMNTS reported in September that Google was beefing up features for Gemini, bringing it closer to becoming an all-around AI platform for individuals and businesses, and incorporating it into people’s daily habits in work and life.

It was reported in December that Gemini was outpacing OpenAI’s ChatGPT in growth, though ChatGPT still had close to twice as many users.