Google’s AI pilot Doppl adds a shoppable discovery feed

Google announced Monday that it is offering a shoppable discovery feed in Doppl, its experimental app that uses artificial intelligence to visualize how different clothes might look on you.

The tech giant says the idea behind the new feed is to display recommendations so users can discover and actually try new items. Almost everything in the feed is shoppable, with direct links to merchants.

The Discovery Feed features AI-generated videos of real products and suggests outfits based on your personal style. Google determines your style by analyzing the preferences you share with Doppl and the items you interact with.

The move comes as short video feeds, especially on TikTok and Instagram, have conditioned users to scroll through visual feeds and buy what they see. However, unlike TikTok and Instagram, where real influencers showcase products, Google’s new feed consists solely of AI-generated content.

While some may not be fond of AI-generated feeds, Google likely sees it as a way to showcase products in a format people are already used to. Additionally, it makes sense for the company to try a new e-commerce strategy, especially as it continues to lose ground to companies like Amazon and social media platforms.

It should be noted that AI-generated videos are not new to Doppl. While the app creates images of a virtual version of yourself wearing different outfits, it can transform these still images and turn them into AI-generated videos. The purpose of this is to give you a better idea of ​​how the outfit will look on you in real life.

The new Discovery Feed on Doppl is rolling out on iOS and Android in the US for users 18 and older.

Although a feed consisting solely of AI-generated content would have seemed strange a year ago, the idea is now gaining traction. For example, in September OpenAI launched Sora, a social media platform just for AI videos. Meta also has a short video feed of AI-generated videos called “Vibes” in the Meta AI app.