Gemini's new Personal Intelligence will look through your emails and photos (www.zdnet.com)

Google has introduced a new feature called Personal Intelligence for its AI model, Gemini, which enhances its capabilities by allowing it to scan users' apps, such as Gmail, Photos, YouTube, and Search, to better respond to inquiries. Launching in beta for paid subscribers, this feature enhances Gemini's contextual understanding by providing tailored insights based on users' data, although it remains off by default to prioritize privacy. Users can control what data is accessed and have the option to prevent over-personalization by giving feedback on responses. The significance of Personal Intelligence lies in its potential to transform user interactions with AI by providing more relevant and specific answers, akin to a personalized assistant that discreetly learns from user behavior without training directly on sensitive data. Google assures that its approach to data privacy is robust, emphasizing that it will not store detailed personal information but will instead focus on understanding large conversational prompts. As this feature rolls out, it represents a pivotal step towards more sophisticated, context-aware AI applications, with Google planning to expand access beyond paid subscribers in the near future.