You can now prompt Google Meet for any AI-generated background you can imagine

Let’s be honest, Google Meet’s initial attempts at AI-generated backgrounds were a bit of a dud. The promise of custom virtual environments sounded great, but ultimately fell short, leaving us with lackluster images that often felt less than immersive.

However, Google is back with a big upgrade to this feature, and this time, they’ve made the idea of AI-generated background far more enticing. Forget sifting through limited preset options; open-ended text-to-image prompts are now here and powered by a serious boost to Gemini’s image generation capabilities.

Yep, you read that right. Now, you can simply type in a description, and Google Meet will generate a custom background based on your prompt. Need a backdrop that perfectly complements your presentation’s theme? Want to transport your team to a specific location for a brainstorming session? Just type it in. The limitations of pre-selected backgrounds are finally a thing of the past.

While Google has introduced some new preset categories for you to use – professional offices, stylish living rooms, tropical beaches, and even fantasy castles or sci-fi spaceships – the true power of this update lies in the freedom to create exactly what you envision. The enhanced image quality, thanks to Gemini’s advancements, is certainly a welcome improvement; but it’s the ability to input custom prompts that truly transforms this feature.

It’s not without flaws, though. Many of the prompts I put in gave me high-quality images, but the perspective didn’t make sense. I tried to get it to look like I was on a park bench in Chicago, but Meet just kept generating images of park benches in Chicago, and setting that as my background obviously looks odd. You’ll have to toy around with it a bit to find the right fit for your needs for sure.

Availability

The roll-out of this enhanced background generator began March 6th in the US and select markets. Access will be granted to Business Standard and Plus Workspace users, as well as Enterprise Standard and Plus users, Education Plus users, and those with the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-on. Furthermore, Google has confirmed that users who previously purchased the now-discontinued AI-related add-ons will also receive this feature.

For what its worth, I’m also seeing the new feature in my personal Google account, but I also have Gemini AI Premium, so that might explain why this feature is showing up for me in that account. If you fall in any of those categories, go try it out. I’m pretty impressed by it overall, and I think you will be as well.