GoKawiilI spend a lot of time with AI querying chatbots, testing image and video generators and playing around with vibe coding tools. But it was this new app from Google Labs that made me think, for the first time in a long time, that AI can be useful and fun.
Dreambeans is one of the latest creations from Google Labs, the experimental AI branch also behind NotebookLM. Dreambeans is an AI-generated media feed -- but it isn't anything like the AI slop filling up your Instagram and YouTube feeds. It's tailored to you; it's a reminder app, shopping assistant and journal. It creates a feed of visually pleasing tiles, called stories, by pulling from your Google apps. It's a comprehensive, pastel-colored scroll.
The goal isn't socializing with others; you don't post or follow other people. It's meant to motivate you to accomplish tasks and spark your creativity. You can quickly scroll through your stories, absorb the day's most pressing reminders and spark inspiration, then log off the app to get back to your day. It's an intentionally short timeline, with only the top 10 or so stories each day.
"Dreambeans is that morning coffee for your digital life, in a way," Gozde Oznur, the product manager who helped build the app, told me when explaining the app's name and purpose. "It processes everything overnight and hands you a concentrated drop of inspiration."
My Dreambeans feed pulled news stories it thought I would be interested in, as well as nearby events and restaurants to try. Google/Screenshot by Katelyn Chedraoui/CNET
Google's AI models create the feed. Nano Banana works up watercolor-inspired AI images featuring you and your loved ones. Google's personalized intelligence pulls out the topics and events that will matter most to you, from reminders to upcoming nearby events and news based on your interests and hobbies.
As I used the app over the past month, I kept coming back to one idealistic thought: Dreambeans offers a glance into what a good life with Google's AI could be.
How it works: Personalized intelligence
My first thought upon seeing my Dreambeans is that it's visually stunning. The app takes a minimalist approach to design but prioritizes imagery. Each story has a custom portrait that dominates the feed. You can click into each story for more information, with AI-created suggestions for further searches that will lead you to Google Search.
My second thought is that this is seriously unnerving. To get the full experience, I gave Dreambeans access to all my Google apps: Workspace (which includes Gmail, Docs and Calendar), Photos, YouTube and my Google Search history. Even though I knew what was coming, it was still a bit of a jump scare to open the app and see a scarily accurate version of myself in nearly every story tile.
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