About a week ago, Google introduced a new AI-powered app called Dreambeans that was a Google Labs experiment only available to those with Google AI Ultra subscriptions. It also has a waitlist for those not on that higher tier plan.
The app was pitched as an outlet to let you unplug from the “endless scrolling and digital noise” that consumes so much of our days. This app would use AI to create a “finite collection of stories designed to spark new ideas and allow you to focus on what matters to you.”
It does that by using AI to read through all of the apps you have given it access to, which it turns into little stories that feature cover art made with Nano Banana. The cover art is mostly AI-generated images of you and your family or pets, with sprinkles of images of other topics throughout. The topics it surfaces are pulled from Personal Intelligence, so that means info from Gmail, Calendar, Photos, YouTube, and Search history. If given access, this app knows everything about you.
Google did give me early access to it, so I’ve been watching the stories flow in for a handful of days now. It has certainly been a mixture of weird, silly, and semi-useful. This is most definitely a Labs project built for those who love AI.
When you open Dreambeans, you give it permissions and it’ll then take some time to start generating stories for you. Those stories show up in a feed that scrolls vertically, with an AI-generated image as cover, with a title and text to preview what the story is about. You can then tap on a story to find more info.
When inside of a story, Dreambeans gives you a short, few paragraph overview. You’ll also find buttons to favorite things, bookmark, thumbs-down, and share. The bottom of each story provides shortcuts to dive deeper on a subject through Google Search or get more info through AI.
It’s all very silly. The AI-generated images of me are essentially what Gemini thinks I should dress like as a 44-year old dad, so it’s nothing but me with a slight come-over and polo shirts and short-sleeve button downs. I pretty much have the same half-grin in each photo too, no matter what AI has me doing for each subject.
The topics it surfaces do match things I’ve searched for, have on the horizon, or am into. However, it has been a mixture of good and bad. Below, there’s a story about protecting my joints on an AssaultRunner Elite treadmill. I bought this treadmill years and years ago, so I’m pretty sure I know how to run on it. It also told me it was time for a Kalua Pork dinner, which I searched for a recipe about weeks ago and then made. I don’t want to make this again.
It even talked about my 4 cats a couple of times, except I only have 2. I went ahead and informed Gemini that 2 of the 4 it thinks I have are deceased.
I get the point of this app, but it’s clearly not for someone like me. I will never make an AI-generated image of myself or family and share it because I think that type of AI is the worst of it all. So seeing all of these images of me doing things, is just so awkward and hilarious. I’m trying to envision a world where someone sees this imagery of their family and life and goes, “That’s so awesome!” I just can’t.
I could see how this might be something to check-in on every few days to see if the subjects of stories are interesting or useful. A lot of the info has been late or old, at least as far as life timing goes. For example, it recommended a pizza/brewpub to visit, but I’ve been to that place dozens and dozens of times already. However, it has brought more interesting subjects to light in recent days as the app has had more time to digest all of my Personal Intelligence, so we’ll see.
App Links: Google Play | App Store
