Google’s Gemini-powered photo search is now available in early access

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It’s now possible to use Google Photos with new AI-powered features as Google has begun to release these updates. One of the new releases is Ask Photos – an AI chatbot created with Gemini that lets users search for photos in a conversational mode The new feature is available only for a limited number of users in the United States in early access as of now. Second, Google Photos has today’s new improved search for more detailed queries available to all English-speaking users.

It is possible to reconcile two major advantages of the improved search function enabling users to use more descriptive queries. For example, whereas people before used to search for ‘lake,’ they can now enter an exploratory search such as ‘kayaking on a lake with mountains’ or ‘Alice smiling with me’ instead of searching for ‘Alice’. This is especially for helping people to search through large collections on the cloud.

As for/google photobucket/Ask Photos, the Google Photos chatbot unveiled at Google I/O in May, it goes one better. Thanks to Gemini, it adds a new tool at the bottom of the Photos app, with which people can say something about any object in the gallery.

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Google gathered examples like “Find me the best picture from each of the national parks that I have been to”, where the search engine hunts for park pictures based on a user’s location and then, with the help of artificial intelligence, selects the most preferable one. Other examples are “Where did we eat at the hotel in Stanley?” and “Where did we spend the night the last time we went to Yosemite?”

Ask Photos also intends to have follow-up questions with which the user may narrow down the results, in case the first result was not what they expected.

The same is true for Google which has to clarify to its users its Photos service will not be used for advertising. Indeed, the queries might be reviewed by people but the users will remain anonymous as the queries will be detached from the users’ accounts. The photos and videos which are produced by Ask Photos would not be touched by the human touch, except where the user of the application has provided feedback, or in cases where the application has been abused.

For its part, US users can put their names on the waiting list for early adoption of Ask Photos as of today. On the other hand, the new feature in the enhanced descriptive search has already started releasing to English-speaking users on Android and iOS.