By the end of this, you'll be able to:
- Get a short, usable summary of a long email thread from Gemini in Gmail
- Draft a reply from a written request and edit it into your own words
- Check a summary or draft against the original messages before acting on it
Picture a colleague who read the whole thread before you sat down and can tell you, in three lines, what was decided and what is still open. That is roughly what Gemini in Gmail does for a crowded inbox. You still decide what gets sent. The colleague just saves you the scrolling.
Google's help pages say these features need an eligible Workspace or Google AI plan, so if you don't see Ask Gemini in Gmail, check with your workspace admin or your plan before you start.
Nightschool AI is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. Everything this course says about the product comes from Google's own help pages, linked in each lesson's sources.
Google describes two jobs that matter most in your first week. The first is summarizing: Gemini can turn long email threads into concise bullet points. The second is drafting: it can create new emails or refine an existing draft for tone and clarity. On a computer, you open it by clicking Ask Gemini at the top right of Gmail, then typing your request.
The request does most of the work. "Summarize this" gets you a generic recap. "Summarize this thread in three bullets: what was decided, what is still open, and the latest price mentioned" gets you something you can act on, because you told it what you need to know.
Here is the honest limit. Google's own help page says Gemini features may suggest inaccurate or inappropriate information. A summary can drop the one line that mattered, such as a price that changed two messages later or a "pending approval" buried in a reply. So treat the summary as a map of the thread, and open the message it points to before you repeat a number, a date or a commitment to anyone.
Drafts need the same check. Read the draft against your own goal for the email. If you asked for the final price in writing, a draft that quietly accepts the price is the wrong email, however polite it sounds.
Click Ask Gemini, say exactly what you need from the thread, and get a short summary or a draft. Before you act on either one, open the original message for any number, date or promise, and read the draft against what you set out to ask.