First announced at Google’s I/O developer conference in May, Google Photos’ AI-based search feature, “Ask Photos,” has been rolling out to users starting Thursday. The feature, which allows users to ask AI to find photos with more complex questions, will initially be available in “early access” to select customers in the US before expanding to a larger user base wide
Powered by Google’s Gemini AI model, Ask Photos allows users to search their photos using natural language questions that leverage AI’s understanding of their photo content and other metadata. Previously, Google Photos users could search for specific people, places or things in their photos, but the AI update will allow them to ask a wider variety of questions, including those that require a deeper understanding of the photo.
For example, as Google suggested during I/O, you can ask for the “best photo from each of the National Parks I’ve visited.” The AI uses a variety of cues to determine which is the “best” of a given set, including things like lighting, blur, and lack of background distortion, among others. He could combine that with his knowledge of the geolocation of the photos to find those taken in the National Parks.
Google said the feature could be used for more than just photo recovery; Users can also ask questions to get useful answers. For example, a parent could ask Google Photos what themes they used for their child’s last four birthdays. The AI could analyze party photos and determine if a theme was involved, such as “mermaid”, “princess”, “superhero” or anything else. It could then tell parents when those themes were last used.
More practical questions could be those that help you remember a specific event, such as “what did we order last time at this restaurant” – assuming you like to photograph your meals. Or you can ask “where did we last camp” in a specific destination, like Yosemite, the company suggests. You can also use the feature to help you put together photos for an album or to summarize all the things you did on a trip.
AI understands the context of your photo gallery, including the important people in your life, your hobbies, your favorite foods, and other relevant details and memories.
To access Ask Photos, selected US users will be able to find the feature in Google Labs, as it is still in the experimental phase. The company says that the development of the feature is guided by its AI Principles, and private datain Photos will never be used for advertising targeting. However, Google employees may review user requests to help improve AI over time. AI responses will not be reviewed by humans unless the user reaches out for support, to provide feedback, or to report abuse or damage.
Interested users can sign up on the waiting list for early access to Ask Photos.