At its Made by Google event today, Google announced some amazing AI-based photo features to complement its new Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 8 smartphones.
“These updates build on the AI technology from Google Research behind tools like Magic Eraser and Photo Unblur, incorporating new technology and techniques—like generative AI—to open up more editing possibilities,” Google director Dina Berrada writes. “These new features let you focus more on what matters most with your photos and videos—from getting the perfect group shot that captures everyone with their eyes open to reducing distracting sounds in your favorite videos.”
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Unfortunately, not all of these new features will be available immediately, some will come in future Pixel Feature Drops, the first of which arrives in December. But here’s a rundown:
Best Take. This Google Photos feature will be available immediately for those with a Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro. It blends multiple versions of a group photo to ensure that everyone is smiling and looking forward, and you can manually select the best take for each face if needed.
Magic Editor improvements. This feature was introduced earlier this year, but Google is updating it on Pixel 8 Pro to use generative AI to help remove even larger distractions like shadows and objects attached to those distractions. Google also plans on updating Magic Editor with new generative AI features in the future.
Audio Magic Eraser. This new feature will be available immediately for those with a Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro. It uses advanced machine learning models to identify sounds like people talking or dogs barking in the background, music, and wind so that you can reduce them in videos while keeping the foreground sound you want.
Zoom Enhance. This feature is coming later to Pixel 8 Pro only. It will let you zoom in on any photo you’ve already taken and crop it to the part you wish to focus on, and it uses generative AI to fill in the gaps between pixels and predict fine details, providing a higher-quality final image.
