Overwhelmed by Email? How AI Tools Can Get You to Inbox Zero

NO MATTER HOW much time we spend unclogging our email inboxes on any given day, more calendar invites, premeeting memos and “urgent” tech updates will pile up tomorrow. Given the scale of the problem, it might feel like a personal email butler is necessary.

Enter artificial intelligence. Companies like Shortwave, launched by ex-Googlers, or Sanebox, a $3.49-a-month utility, offer third-party extensions that can triage your unread messages. Major email platforms are increasingly developing similar tools. When drafting a note in Gmail, for instance, you can now add context that Google’s Bard chatbot pulls from your Google Calendar, Maps searches and Google’s other apps. (You can access Bard free at bard.google.com. With a work account, you might have to ask your company’s IT administrator to enable Bard.)

NO MATTER HOW much time we spend unclogging our email inboxes on any given day, more calendar invites, premeeting memos and “urgent” tech updates will pile up tomorrow. Given the scale of the problem, it might feel like a personal email butler is necessary.

Enter artificial intelligence. Companies like Shortwave, launched by ex-Googlers, or Sanebox, a $3.49-a-month utility, offer third-party extensions that can triage your unread messages. Major email platforms are increasingly developing similar tools. When drafting a note in Gmail, for instance, you can now add context that Google’s Bard chatbot pulls from your Google Calendar, Maps searches and Google’s other apps. (You can access Bard free at bard.google.com. With a work account, you might have to ask your company’s IT administrator to enable Bard.)