Let ChatGPT watch your Gmail and only interrupt you for emails that need action
- Posted
- by Eric Hal Schwartz (TechRadar)
- Last checked
- Method:
- How we verify
Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.
Outcome
TechRadar's Eric Hal Schwartz set an event-triggered ChatGPT task on his Gmail: alert him only when an email required him to do something or came from family, explain it in one sentence, draft a reply, and never reply without his input. Over an afternoon with Gmail closed he got just 3 alerts (his bank, a family member whose drafted reply he sent after small edits, and an event itinerary change); afterwards he found only two emails he might have wanted earlier, neither urgent.
Agent
Prompt Original prompt
Exact prompt as published in the source.
When I receive an email that requires me to do something, or comes from a family member, tell me what I need to do and draft a potential reply.
Optional stronger version
Our rewrite with extra checks. The poster didn't test it.
Run this task now, exactly as written below. Everything you need is here, so start straight away and only stop if something required is missing or a rule below tells you to. Goal: Watch my inbox and only alert me when an email needs action from me or comes from family, with a draft reply ready. Fill in before running: - Email account to watch: [Gmail] - People who always count as important: [FAMILY NAMES / ADDRESSES] - How to alert me: [push / text] - Things to never alert on: [receipts, newsletters, promotions] Rules: - For each alert: one sentence on who wrote and what they need from me. - Draft a short reply for me to approve; never send anything yourself. - Ignore promotions and routine receipts unless they change something I've booked. - If you're unsure whether an email needs me, flag it as 'unsure' rather than staying silent. - Check facts that can change (prices, opening hours, dates, availability, rules) against the official source, and tell me anything you couldn't verify. - At the end of the day, send one list of everything you chose not to alert me about, so I can check you didn't miss anything. Output: Short alerts with a draft reply, and nothing else. You'll know it worked when: I only get pinged for emails that matter, and nothing important waits until later. Before you finish: re-read my goal and constraints, check your answer against each one, and list anything you assumed or couldn't confirm.
Source
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