Pixel 8 and 8 Pro will include Google Photos’ AI-powered Magic Editor

Google Photos will have generative AI with the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones. The feature, announced at the company’s I/O developer conference in May, allows more complex edits like filling gaps, repositioning the subject, and other foreground or background edits.

Google showed how Magic Editor could easily combine editing tasks at I/O. To clean up a photo of someone standing in front of a waterfall, it removed the background people and removed a bag strap from the subject’s shoulder. AI was used to “cut out” the photo’s subject and better reposition them.

Google Photos users used to need external tools like Magic Eraser or PhotoShop to achieve the same effect. It would require more manual edits.

Google showed another demo where you could reposition the photo’s subject and have AI “magically” fill in the rest as you moved off-center items. This time, Magic Eraser let you drag a boy on a bench holding balloons closer to the photo’s center, and AI fills in the bench, city scene, and sky with white fluffy clouds for a better photo.

Generative AI powers complex edits like resizing or repositioning subjects in Google Photos. Simply tap the object to edit, drag to move, or pinch to resize. Change the photo’s lighting and background with its contextual suggestions. Plus, Google says Magic Editor will offer multiple output options so you can pick your favorite.

The feature was impressive when demoed, but consumers will soon test it. This may or may not produce the natural-looking polished images we’ve seen. Today, Google notes that Magic Editor is a “early stages” Labs experience and that “there are going to be times when the result isn’t exactly what you imagined.” It hopes technology and user feedback will improve results over time.

Google Photos users edit 1.7 billion photos per month, so its test could be large. Even if only a small portion are on the newer Pixel devices, there will be lots of data and edits to learn from.

Pixel 8 and 8 Pro brought several AI-powered photo editing features, including Magic Editor. Best Take, which blends multiple images into the best shot, Zoom Enhance, a sci-fi-looking generative AI feature, and Magic Eraser, which can now remove larger distractions from photos, were others. Google announced Best Take, Magic Editor, and Audio Magic Eraser, which removes background noise, for Pixel 8 devices on October 12.