Google's AI-fueled Ask Photos feature, previewed at Google I/O 2024, has begun initial testing, as first shared by 9to5 Google. Ask Photos employs Google's Gemini AI to search a user's photo library using natural language without first organizing and tagging the image. Google hasn't shared any release date, but it looks like a select group of users are being asked to try it out and offer feedback before a broader rollout.
Ask Photos essentially expands Gemini's ability to parse visual information from a user's photos. The AI can then comb through images, presumably those in an album or on a device that the AI has permission to access and search through. It's not just a keyword hunt either, as the AI can also answer questions posed by the user. For instance, at the initial demonstration at Google I/O, CEO Sundar Pichai showed how he could use it to ask his phone for his license plate number, with the answer provided thanks to a photo of the license plate in his album.
