Google Photos' AI-powered search feature “Ask Photos,” first announced at the Google I/O developer conference in May, will be available to users starting Thursday. The feature, which lets users ask the AI to search photos using more complex queries, will be available to a select number of customers in the U.S. as “early access” before being expanded to a wider user base.
Powered by Google's Gemini AI model, Ask Photos lets users search for photos using natural language queries that leverage an AI understanding of a photo's content and other metadata. While Google Photos users could already search for specific people, places or things in their photos, the AI upgrade will enable them to ask a wider variety of questions, including ones that require a deeper understanding of the photo.
Image credit: Google
For example, as Google suggested at I/O, you could ask, “What's the best photo I've taken in each of the national parks I've visited?” The AI would use a variety of signals, like lighting, blur, and how little distortion there is in the background, to determine the “best” photo in a given set. It would then combine that with an understanding of the photo's geographic location to find photos taken in national parks.
Google says the feature can be used for more than just searching photos. Users can also ask questions and get helpful answers. For example, a parent can ask Google Photos what themes were used for their child's last four birthdays. The AI can analyze party photos and determine if a theme was involved, such as “mermaid,” “princess,” or “superhero.” It can then tell the parent when that theme was last used.
Image credit: Google
More practical questions could help you remember specific events, like “What did you order last time at this restaurant?” if you like taking photos of your food. Or, the company suggests, you could ask “Where did you last camp?” at a specific destination, like Yosemite. You could also use the feature to organize your photos for an album or keep track of everything you did during a trip.
The AI understands the context of your photo gallery, including important people in your life, hobbies, favorite foods, and other relevant details and memories.
To access Ask Photos, some US users can find the feature within Google Labs, as it is still in an experimental stage. According to the company, the development of the feature is based on AI principles, and private data in Photos will never be used for ad targeting. However, Google employees may review user queries to improve the AI over time. AI answers are not reviewed by humans unless users ask for support, provide feedback, or report abuse or harm.
Interested users can join the waitlist for early access to Ask Photos.