Are we sick of AI yet? Too bad! Companies like Microsoft and Google keep shovelling it into our apps and software as if it’s something we need. The latest victim from Google I/O 2024 is Google Photos. Meet ‘Ask photos’.
The powers that be have blessed the relatively simple app with AI. Ask Photos taps into Gemini to help search for content in your images, and produce responses based on said images. For example, you can ask the app’s chatbot to find you the best snaps you’ve taken at the national parks you’ve visited.
You can even ask more subjective questions, such as the theme of a loved one’s birthday party. It’ll also help you make highlights, only if you ask though.
“The information in your photos can be deeply personal, and we take the responsibility of protecting it very seriously. Your personal data in Google Photos is never used for ads. And people will not review your conversations and personal data in Ask Photos, except in rare cases to address abuse or harm. We also don’t train any generative AI product outside of Google Photos on this personal data, including other Gemini models and products. As always, all your data in Google Photos is protected with our industry-leading security measures,” Google Photos software engineer Jeremy Selier said.
As for if you would ever use this feature… I don’t know, maybe? Look, the best example they had during this morning’s I/O keynote was to search for your licence plate, and it would come up, with the AI telling you what it is.
At surface level: cool! Beyond that – when would I ever use this?
Google says more capabilities are yet to come, with the feature to roll out soon.
For the record, pre-AI, Google Photos was one of my favourite apps. It was instrumental in my switch from iOS to Android, and I love the functionality it offers. I love how easy it is to share folders of snaps among my friends and family, and I love how easy it is to search for images in the web version or phone app. It has a search bar that you can use to find the picture you’re after, or you can filter your pictures by the faces that appear in them. It rocks, I’ll admit it.
Now, I’m not so sure.
Read all Google I/O announcements here
Image: Google