If you have a large collection of photos, you understand how challenging it can be to search through them all. Fortunately, Google Photos has made searching your photo library easier than ever with recent search enhancements and the new Ask Photos feature powered by Gemini. These features are being rolled out today, with Ask Photos currently only available to select users through Google Labs.
So, what exactly is Ask Photos? It takes the standard search experience in Google Photos to the next level by utilizing the latest Gemini models to analyze your photo gallery. This means identifying important people in your life, your interests, favorite foods, and more. With this information, Ask Photos can extract relevant details from your photos to help you locate specific memories and gain insights into your overall life.
Google provided some practical examples of how you can use the Ask Photos feature. For instance, if you’re trying to remember a previous camping trip location, you can simply ask “Where did we camp last time we went to Yosemite?” and get the answer. Or if you want to recall a dish you had at a restaurant, you can ask “What did we eat at the hotel in Stanley?” and receive the results.
Ask Photos is designed to understand finer details like the location of a camping gear photo or the dish on a restaurant table. Additionally, it encourages a conversational approach where you can provide additional clues to help Gemini accurately respond to your queries.
The Ask Photos tool can also assist with suggesting the best photos for a shared album for a birthday party or summarizing the highlights of a recent trip with a friend or family member.
Google is implementing the Ask Photos feature in accordance with its AI Principles, prioritizing user data protection and privacy. Queries are reviewed by humans to enhance Ask Photos results but only after disconnecting them from the user’s Google Account. Photos and videos retrieved through Ask Photos are not reviewed by humans unless feedback is required.
While Ask Photos is currently available through Google Labs for early testing, Google is refining it before a full rollout. You can join the waitlist for early access to Ask Photos. Meanwhile, the improved classic search in Google Photos is now available for all users, allowing for easier searching with everyday language queries. You can search using phrases like “Alice and me laughing” or “Kayaking on a lake surrounded by mountains” for more accurate and relevant results.
These improvements to the Google Photos search function are rolling out for Android and iOS users, with plans to expand to more languages in the near future.
