--- description: Google's Inbox app is getting a feature that suggests responses to incoming messages before even hitting the reply button. title: Google's New Email Feature Will Make Your Inbox Way Less Annoying image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbdfaba2cb2c4119d/69886f4dab6d77f2156a6f65/googlesmartreply.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Google's New Email Feature Will Make Your Inbox Way Less Annoying  by [Lisa Eadicicco](/author/lisa-eadicicco/)  ## Lisa Eadicicco Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 3, 2015 2:29 PM CUT  Google  by [Lisa Eadicicco](/author/lisa-eadicicco/)  ## Lisa Eadicicco Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 3, 2015 2:29 PM CUT Sometimes it’s the quick and easy emails that go unanswered. Perhaps a friend is asking if you’re available for dinner, and you forgot to respond even though you were free that night. Google’s latest feature for Inbox, the email app it unveiled last October, attempts to make situations like this easier to handle by suggesting responses to emails. Before even pressing the reply button, Google will suggest three responses based on the content in a received email. The feature, which is called Smart Reply and launches on Nov. 5, uses machine learning to understand the context of a message and compose replies that make sense. Machine learning refers to specific types of computer algorithms that can learn how do do things wtithout being specifically programmed to do so — such as completing a task or making predictions. Google uses machine learning in several of its apps and services, including its Photos app, which can intelligently decipher subjects in photos so that the user can perform really targeted searches. For instance, a search for “dogs” should pull up all of the images in your library that contain dogs. Google promises this new Smart Reply feature will improve as the user chooses responses from its suggestions more often. This makes sense — the more Smart Reply is used, the more Google learns about how that particular user typically responds to emails. Therefore, it can make predictions that are more accurate. Smart Reply isn’t revolutionary — similar features exist on smartwatches, as typing on a tiny screen or speaking into a watch isn’t usually ideal. Still, it seems like a handy addition for responding to emails quickly on the go. ### See the Fantastically Weird Images Google’s Self-Evolving Software Made  These pictures aren’t from the mind of a person on psychedelic drugs. Instead they represent the way Google’s AI software is able to reinterpret different images  Google’s software, called an artificial neural network, is able to learn in the same way a human brain does.  Google trains the network to see by feeding it millions of images that teach it how to interpret different objects.  The network is built of 10 to 30 layers of artificial neurons, each of which interpret different levels of complexity in an image.  These pictures were made by feeding the network an arbitrary image and allowing it to enhance whatever it deems most important  The images serve as a way to test how well the network has learned during training  The results are colorful, jarring and beautiful. Each layer of the network can come up with a different interpretation Google  Google calls this process of abstract re-interpretations of images “inceptionism”  Certain objects are often re-interpreted in similar ways. Horizon lines are often filled with towers and pagodas, rocks turn into buildings, and birds or insects appear in pictures of leaves  In addition to re-interpreting images, the network can create “dreams” from a random-noise image by continually building new impressions on top of its old ones Google  In the future neural networks could be used by artists as a new form of visual expression  Google will continue using neural networks for everything from voice recognition to identifying people in its Photos app ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4097945/google-smart-reply-inbox/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4097945/google-smart-reply-inbox/"},"headline":"Google's New Email Feature Will Make Your Inbox Way Less Annoying","datePublished":"2015-11-03T14:29:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:44:20.295Z","description":"Google's Inbox app will offer up suggested replies based on an email's content","url":"https://time.com/4097945/google-smart-reply-inbox/","keywords":["Tech","Google"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbdfaba2cb2c4119d/69886f4dab6d77f2156a6f65/googlesmartreply.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Eadicicco"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbdfaba2cb2c4119d/69886f4dab6d77f2156a6f65/googlesmartreply.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GoogleSmartReply","caption":"","creditText":"Google","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4097945/google-smart-reply-inbox/","name":"Google's New Email Feature Will Make Your Inbox Way Less Annoying"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Tech Time: Is Face Scanning the Future of Security?","description":"Using Biometrics, some companies are making it so that you never have to remember a password again. 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