Google is always developing fun, experimental AI use cases and letting users explore them on its Google Labs platform. Its latest experiment allows users to reimagine chess using Google's text-to-image generation technology.
Last week, Google launched GenChess, a Labs web experiment that enables users to transform traditional chess pieces into anything they imagine using a text prompt, powered by a combination of Gemini Flash and Google's latest AI model, Imagen 3. Like all of the Google Labs experiments, GenChess is free to use.
Also: How to sign up for Google Labs – and 5 reasons why you should
The custom chess pieces can be as elaborate or as simple as users want, with Google examples including a cactus, poodle, egg, tennis ball, rubber ducky, cactus, fuzzy pieces, and more, as seen below. Users can then use the newly designed chess pieces to play against virtual opponents.
To get started, visit the GenChess standalone site or click on it from Google Labs and sign in. Once there, you'll be prompted to fill in the blanks on a sample prompt, including what you'd like your pieces to be inspired by. There is also a toggle option for "classic" or "creative" pieces, which means it will apply design to the classic structure of the piece or change the shape for more abstract pieces.
For my prompt, I asked it to make a classic chess set that was inspired by Yorkies. To my surprise, it came out so much cuter than expected and with a lot more detail, including fur texture.
Then, when I clicked "Generate opponent," it kept the dog theme, making the opponent Great Danes.
After both sets were created, I had the option to start playing, choosing difficulty level and time. Like most online chess games, it highlights the next moves for you, but that can also be turned off in settings if you are a more advanced player. Other customization options include sound, volume, and board labeling.