A few months ago, Google dropped yet another new AI tool. This one—Opal—lets users “build, edit, and share mini-AI apps using natural language.” You can start from scratch, or you can begin by selecting one of its pre-built apps.

In this post, I describe my results noodling with the beta tool. I'll also explain what this type of experimentation portends for the future of work.

I picked one of the gallery's pre-built apps. Video Marketer promised to create “AI video ads with your product and target audience.”

I punched in some basic information for my book The Nine: The Tectonic Forces Reshaping the Workplace. Opal asked for the product's primary audience. I quickly entered my reader personas. Here's Opal's bizarre eight-second creation:

Video of a Woman Reading a Hallucinated Book Called The Gine | Source: Google Opal