[DigitalToday intern reporter Hong Kyung-min (홍경민)] Google has drawn criticism for designing Workspace so that disabling Gemini also blocks existing essential convenience features such as automatic Gmail inbox sorting and spelling correction. Critics say this unfairly restricts user choice to expand AI adoption.

IT outlet Engadget reported on April 13 that Google has integrated Gemini into almost all of its services in recent years, including Gmail, Chrome and document tools. But many users see Gemini’s interventions as a hindrance when writing formulas or drafting text. They also face the inconvenience of having to navigate complex settings menus to turn it off.

To disable Gemini, users must switch off smart function options in two steps in the Gmail web client, which serves as a settings hub. They must first turn off smart features applied to chat and meetings in the General tab of Gmail settings, then disable all integration options with other products in the Workspace smart features settings management menu to fully escape Gemini’s influence. In some countries, including Japan and the European Economic Area, these features are provided in a disabled state by default.

But a bigger problem in going through this blocking process in Gmail is that the smart features disabled to turn off Gemini are closely tied not only to Gmail but also to basic convenience functions across Workspace. Disabling the Gemini integration not only stops Gmail’s automatic inbox sorting by importance, but also removes service-wide spelling and grammar correction and Smart Compose auto-completion at the same time. Desktop notifications on PCs and parcel delivery tracking status displays, which appear less directly related to AI, are also grouped under smart features and become unusable.

These linked functions exist because Google does not provide granular control across Workspace services. For example, changing settings in Gmail can turn off Gemini in Google Docs while also stopping the integration that automatically shows Gmail schedules in Calendar. This is seen as reflecting Google’s design intent to hinder users from removing only Gemini and to force use of AI services. Users ultimately face a choice between turning off Gemini even if that means giving up existing convenient integrations, or keeping AI features while putting up with the inconvenience.

For workplace users on corporate Workspace accounts, removing Gemini entirely through personal setting changes is even more difficult. Even if they turn off smart features in Gmail settings, the Gemini icon may still appear in Docs or Sheets, and fully blocking it requires administrator privileges for the organisation. Taken together, it will be difficult for Google to avoid criticism that it is pressuring users to use Gemini by holding Gmail and Workspace’s existing convenience features hostage to expand its AI ecosystem.