Google Meet’s new AI-generated backgrounds mean I can join every meeting from the Barbie Dreamhouse

Microsoft Teams is too formal, Zoom gives me pandemic flashbacks, but Google Meet is fun. Hopping into a Google Meet video call gives me an experience full of fun vibes, emoji reactions, and in the near future even AI-generated custom backgrounds.

Google I/O 2023 saw the search engine giant announce the first round of key updates and new features needed to get its AI chatbot Bard out of a particularly lackluster start. Alongside the flurry of Bard updates, Google did note that image generation functionality in Google Meet was coming soon, which is pretty exciting if you want to make your workdays a little more whimsical.

If you want to check it out, you can open a Google Meet call and click the ‘Apply Visual Effects’ button, where you should find an option to generate backgrounds. According to Google, the new feature is rolling out gradually, so don’t worry if you can’t find it just yet. 

Google meets

Google’s website shows a brief demo of how the AI background generation will work. (Image credit: Google )

New crib everyday