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Google Turns Gmail Into an AI Assistant as 2026 Forecasts Signal Wider Rollout and Limited Job Impact

Economic analysis finds little evidence of broad job losses to date.

Overview

  • Google announced Gemini 3-powered features for Gmail including a personalized “Help Me Write,” conversational Q&A over inbox content for Pro and Ultra subscribers, and an experimental AI Inbox that suggests tasks, launching first in English for U.S. users with test groups and with a pledge not to use inbox data to train models.
  • An Oxford Economics report says companies are not replacing workers at scale, noting about 55,000 U.S. layoffs attributed to AI in the first 11 months of 2025—roughly 4.5% of total cuts—and projecting a gradual transition rather than a spike in unemployment.
  • Marketing use of generative AI is set to shift from tactical content and chatbots to strategic functions such as pricing, segmentation and journey orchestration, according to a SAS report that also flags weak governance, limited executive understanding and ROI measurement as key hurdles.
  • Customer service is expected to automate rapidly, with Infobip predicting AI agents could handle up to 95% of interactions by 2026, though providers emphasize hybrid models where humans resolve complex cases.
  • User behavior is changing toward zero-click answers, with a Japan survey by Seed finding 44.2% report reduced search use in favor of AI and 60.6% express confidence in AI summaries, pressuring traditional SEO-dependent traffic.