Google’s Dreambeans, its weirdest-named AI tool to date, will turn your life into a cartoon

Google Labs, the tech giant’s team dedicated to experimental product design, has launched a new AI-powered app for iOS and Android that will literally animate your life.

See, Dream beans. Why is it called that? We’ll come back to that later.

First of all, what is it?

Gozde Oznur, the product lead behind the new app, told TechCrunch that the idea is to use data from your various Google services to generate a curated list of AI-illustrated “stories.” These stories come in different shapes and forms, although – generally speaking – they seem to be lifestyle suggestions. Oznur describes them as “places to visit, topics to explore, things to try, upcoming trips, events to know about.”

Dreambeans generates these ideas based on a user’s Google data. “With your permission, Dreambeans uses personal intelligence to connect information from Google apps like Gmail, Calendar, Photos, YouTube, and Search History to create a finite collection of daily stories designed to spark new ideas,” the company says.

For example, some stories could be geographic recommendations, such as suggesting a new coffee shop near where the user lives that they might be interested in. Or, as is the case in this case marketing videoIf you’re getting a new dog and that event is marked on your Google calendar, Dreambeans might be able to give you some insights into what it’s like to live with a new puppy. Still other stories may simply be news articles compiled from the Internet, based on a user’s past interests.

Oznur said the app is also built as a doomscrolling antidote, in that it only offers users a limited number of stories per day — typically 10 to 14. The idea is to get a few inspiring ideas and then go out and live your life, she said. Many companies are currently trying to sue the user who is tired of phone addiction. I recently reviewed a startup, Bond, that also uses AI to automatically generate lifestyle suggestions for the user.

What about privacy protection?

According to Oznur, they’re pretty solid. The only person who has access to the app’s stories is the user, she said. Users can also delete their data whenever they want and can choose which Google services they want to associate with the tool.

Finally, where does the name “Dreambeans” come from?

The idea for the name came about in part because of the way the system works while you sleep, she said.

“The dream part is literal, because while you’re sleeping, the app is processing everything across all your connected apps, because as you can imagine, it’s a lot of data that it’s distilling,” Oznur said. “The bean part is about how to start your day with a freshly brewed cup of coffee. It takes everything overnight and gives you a concentrated drop of inspiration in the morning.”

Dreambeans is currently only available to eligible US Google AI Ultra subscribers on Android and iOS. However, there is also one waiting list which is available to users with a personal Google account.