Google's AI-Powered 'Ask Photos' Search Feature Now Rolling Out

Thursday September 5, 2024 3:34 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Google today said it has started rolling out early access to a new "Ask Photos" feature for its Google Photos app. Available to both iOS and Android users, the new Google ‌Photos‌ feature takes advantage of Google's Gemini AI to provide new ways to search.

google photos ask photos
With Ask ‌Photos‌, users can use natural language search terms to find specific memories or information in their images. Google says that Google ‌Photos‌ users can ask all sorts of questions to find content from their image libraries, with the feature able to search through all of a person's Google ‌Photos‌ images to bring up relevant results. Some examples:

What are the best photos from each national park I visited?
Where did I camp last year?
When do my tickets expire?
What were the best things we saw on our trip?
What did I eat at the hotel in [location]?
What did I eat at the market in Thailand?
What are the best photos from the birthday party?
What themes have we had for family birthday parties?

Ask ‌Photos‌ is able to understand the context and subject of photos to provide answers to questions. With the last question listed above, for example, Ask ‌Photos‌ can see what decorations are in the background of an image or on a birthday cake to answer the query.

The feature can be used to curate the best images taken on a trip, saving editing time. It can also provide trip highlights, and suggest top pictures complete with captions to share on social media.

Google says that personal data in Google ‌Photos‌ isn't used for ads, but some queries will be reviewed by humans to improve the feature. Data will not be linked to a Google Account for privacy protection purposes. Answers provided by Ask ‌Photos‌, including photos and videos, are not reviewed by humans unless feedback is provided or in rare cases to address abuse or harm.

Ask ‌Photos‌ was already previewed at Google I/O, but it has now started rolling out, with Google providing early access to select iOS and Android Google ‌Photos‌ users. Those who want to try the feature can sign up for the waitlist on Google's website.

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Top Rated Comments

WarmWinterHat

27 months ago

Sounds better than the iOS 18 "update" to the photos app.

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

GuruZac

27 months ago

Kudos to Google for the Pixel lineup. I saw them in Best Buy the other day. Definitely looks and feels flagship and premium. Impressive hardware and software. However, Google isn't a search engine, they're a surveillance company and for that, I can never support them.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

zorrobyte

27 months ago

Sounds better than the iOS 18 "update" to the photos app.

Until Google falsely flags your account for CSAM and wipes out your entire account, purchases, etc without any way to appeal or recover. No thanks.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

steve09090

27 months ago

Sounds better than the iOS 18 "update" to the photos app.

You prefer to have Google have access, search and catalogue all of your photo's?

From Google themselves. ('https://blog.google/products/photos/ask-photos-google-io-2024/')
The information in your photos can be deeply personal, and we take the responsibility of protecting it very seriously. And people will not review your conversations and personal data in Ask Photos, except in rare cases to address abuse or harm

How do they not search and catalogue your 'deeply personal photos' if they don’t review the conversations and photos. And who gave them permission to listen to our conversations in our videos on the camera roll in the first place?

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Harry Haller

27 months ago

Google, what is Tim Cook praying for?