Google Announces Major Google Photos App AI Upgrades

Google Photos is getting an AI boost, the tech giant confirmed at its annual I/O developer conference. The new feature, Magic Editor, will allow users to edit their background and foreground, reposition objects, and fill in gaps, among other things.

In the demo, Google showed a few of Magic Editor’s capabilities. In one of the photos featuring a person posing in front of a waterfall, Google used the tool to delete the person’s bag strap and remove people from the background – actions that were previously only available through its Magic Eraser.

In another example, Google’s Magic Eraser repositioned a subject and filled in the gaps. In the photo of a boy sitting on a bench with balloons in his hand, Google used Magic Eraser to position the bench and the subject in the center. Then, using its generative AI tools, it created more balloons and added a part of the bench to fill in the blank space.

Magic Editor can also enhance photos. For example, the tool can change a gray and cloudy sky to a bright one with fluffy clouds. These types of edits aren’t new in the photo editing space, but they usually require downloading a third-party app. With these abilities built into Magic Editor, Google users can access advanced edits from within their native photo app.

Google admitted that just like anything AI-powered, Magic Editor might not always get everything right. The tech giant will test it and collect feedback during the experimental phase to improve its functionality further.

While Magic Eraser is only available to Google One subscribers, it’s not disclosed whether Magic Editor will also cost extra. The new tool will be available this year, initially only to “select” Pixel devices.

The tech community speculated another major update to Google Photos. Tipster Nail Sadykov, who runs the unofficial Google News Telegram Group, revealed screenshots of a new Memories-based home page within Google Photos.

The screens displayed a new slider that allows users to switch from the regular timeline-based “All photos” view to the “Memories” view, which automatically groups photos and videos based on themes and events and compiles a curated feed that resembles scrolling through a social media feed. It’s unclear if and when Google will decide to implement Memories.