Google’s personalization features often miss the mark by suggesting irrelevant content. The app showed the author old-looking art, unwanted music, and snacks like dates from Khoya Mithai. Despite having access to many photos, the AI failed to understand the user’s actual personality, making the experience feel impersonal and quite wrong.
This isn’t a review of the Dreambeans app. It’s a look at how personalization can sound so good but go so wrong.
A familiar face
Each of the cards (though I don’t think Google calls them that) told me something about its attempt at personalization. My first card showed me sitting with a friend, obligatory cups of tea in front of us, trying to look solemn and thoughtful. I also looked about 150 years old because of the art style Google has chosen. Thanks a lot. My friend, meanwhile, looked about 20 years younger. Apropos of nothing, Google was suggesting that I listen to some songs from something called Dekh Kabira Roya. Never heard of it. I gave it a listen and escaped immediately. Bollywood is the last thing on my listening list.
The next card showed me with the same friend’s mother and sister-in-law. At 92, his mother looked ten years younger than us. We were apparently practising smiling at one another, and Google suggested I order a hamper of artisanal dates from Khoya Mithai, whatever that is. I have no particular fondness for dates, and they’re probably not good for a diabetic. Clicking on the suggestion button took me straight to the store mentioned. I made my escape again.
A third card showed me with my brother, sitting together politely and aiming beatific smiles at one another. I don’t remember us doing that for all the days of our existence. The more likely scenario is that we would have espresso martinis in front of us, not tea. I would be looking shell-shocked because that’s the way my brother makes martinis, while he would look vastly amused at whatever the martini was doing to me.
Missing the person
I’m not sure what I find more unforgivable: the fact that I look 150 years old, or the fact that I have the wrong personality. Not after all the information AI has, including every photo of me ever taken, and certainly not after all the promises of personalization constantly thrown at us.
Despite how pretty the Himalayan card looks, Ruskin Bond’s books are not my choice of reading. And I do love Darjeeling tea, but prompting me to buy more when I already have over two kilos to finish does not count as ‘inspiration’. Nor does pointing me to a Swar Sanskar riyaz video on YouTube. I am indeed reacquainting myself with the raga Ahir Bhairav these days, but I’ve watched that video several times already.
The action prompts around which each card seems to be centred look as if they are the whole point of this personalization exercise. But not a single one turned out to be useful. One prompt actually asked me to go ahead and book a BluSmart cab rather than risk straining my injured foot. It knew about the injury from a photo I had shared to check the swelling, but not that BluSmart had shut shop last year. And despite my being a Level 8 Google Local Guide, it didn’t know that I would use my own car and driver.
On just the first day of Dreambeans cards, what stood out was what Google doesn’t know about me, rather than what it does. You can tap the “i” button and discuss each card with Dreambeans, teaching it what you really like. But that’s not my job. I’m personalized well enough without having to teach AI how to personalize for me.
And now I could probably do with a cup of Darjeeling to soothe my old nerves after all.
The New Normal: The world is at an inflexion point. Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to be as massive a revolution as the Internet has been. The option to just stay away from AI will not be available to most people, as all the tech we use takes the AI route. This column series introduces AI to the non-techie in an easy and relatable way, aiming to demystify and help a user to actually put the technology to good use in everyday life.
Mala Bhargava is most often described as a ‘veteran’ writer who has contributed to several publications in India since 1995. Her domain is personal tech, and she writes to simplify and demystify technology for a non-techie audience.
Mala Bhargava
Mala Bhargava was among the first journalists in India to write on personal technology, then known as 'home computing'. With Cyber Media she launched the country's first personal tech magazine, Computers@Home, in 1996. She also wrote a tech trends column, That's IT, for Businessworld magazine for 20 years. She has also written for The Hindu BusinessLine and Fortune. Her speciality has always been writing for 'the rest of us' rather than for the tech-savvy. She has a background in psychology which makes it natural for her to write on how technology impacts everyday life. She is currently a Mint contributor, writing on AI in daily life, specifically the chat assistants. She lives in New Delhi.