If you want to go back to the standard search experience in Google Photos, tap Switch to Classic Search. But you don’t have to. Since I just wanted to find my photos, I started typing my name in Ask Photos, which immediately showed me the collection of photos of me in my library. No Gemini processing required. If you name most of the people and pets that regularly appear in your library, you won’t have to wait for Ask Photos to process your request to see those photos.
Photo: Julian Chokkattu via Google Photos
But when I asked Yael Marzan, head of product for Google Photos, if Ask Photos would eventually replace the traditional search feature entirely, she replied: “We think Ask Photos is a better way to search, but we need to proceed slowly and responsibly and scale it in ways that make sense.”
The rollout of Ask Photos is much more limited. It’s a Google Labs feature, which means it’s experimental, and only some users in the U.S. will get the experience starting today. There’s a waitlist if you want to request early access. Marzan says the Photos team is focused on user feedback to improve the experience. Because it’s generative AI technology, the risk is high, and the reason for this cautious rollout is to see how users use Ask Photos and ensure it provides “safe, accurate, and non-offensive answers.”
Google’s blog post about the new feature notes that humans may review queries to improve Ask Photos, “but only after they’ve been disconnected from your Google Account to protect your privacy.” Humans won’t review the results unless users provide feedback or “in rare cases, to address abuse or harm.”
