Google is rolling out significant upgrades to its Photos app, introducing an AI-powered Ask Photos feature and enhancing its search functionality to provide users with a more intuitive and powerful way to explore their photo libraries.
AI-Powered Ask Photos Feature
Google has announced the launch of Ask Photos, an experimental conversational search feature powered by its Gemini AI model. This innovative tool is designed to understand the context of a user's photo gallery, including key individuals, hobbies, and even favorite foods.
Key features of Ask Photos include:
- Ability to answer specific queries about photos, such as What did we eat at the hotel in Stanley?
- Creation of photo collections based on user prompts, like What were the top 10 things we saw in Idaho?
- Conversational interface allowing users to refine searches with additional context
The feature is currently in limited early access, with U.S. users able to join a waitlist for testing.
Enhanced Search Capabilities
Alongside Ask Photos, Google is improving the core search functionality in Photos for all users. The updates include:
- Support for more natural language queries, such as Alice and me laughing or Emma painting in the backyard
- New sorting options for search results, allowing users to organize by relevance or date
- Rollout to both Android and iOS users, initially in English with more languages to follow
Privacy Considerations
Google emphasizes its commitment to user privacy with these new features. While some queries may be used for AI training, Google states they will be disconnected from user accounts to ensure anonymity.
These updates represent a significant step forward in making vast personal photo libraries more accessible and useful. As AI continues to evolve, we can expect even more innovative features to help users manage and rediscover their digital memories.