Google is putting AI technology at the forefront of its latest Pixel phones, but I hate one of the new features more than anything I’ve seen in my four years as a tech journalist.
AI photo features are nothing new for Google: it first released the Magic Eraser tool in 2021, before following it with Magic Editor at this year’s I/O event in May.
The latter lets you to completely change the composition of photos, allowing subjects to be moved into the middle of a frame or the size of a person changed.
But the new Best Take feature takes things to a whole new level of grim. In a media briefing, Google used the example of a funny family photograph on a fairground ride, with the children looking distracted.
Best Take was used to swap people’s faces to ensure that everyone in the group was smiling – this was done by the phone taking a burst of photos, and then allowing users to replace expressions with whichever version they deemed suitable. Basically, it turned everyone into creepy, waxwork-like subjects.
Marketing will have you believe that this is the key to a ‘perfect’ snapshot, a way to avoid having one person blinking, scowling or in the middle of a sentence. To that, I say that it completely defeats the purpose of a photo.
Photos on smartphones are meant to capture a moment in time. Some of my favourite images to look back on are the ones where my friends are making an odd face as they’re talking, or those of kids making a stupid face because they clearly didn’t want to conform to the cheerful atmosphere. They spark conversation, and they certainly aren’t meant to look like the sorts of images you’d see on an advert or poster.
Editing and enhancing tools on smartphones are not new. But there’s a clear difference between touching up the lighting in a shot and completely swapping someone’s face, changing the entire meaning of a photograph.
It’s also yet another tool that can be used to fuel low self-esteem, particularly among young people.
Teenagers already have filters available at the click of a button (sometimes labelled disgustingly as a ‘beautify’ effect on some smartphones), so it doesn’t bode well that young children were shown off as one of the main use cases for the tool. Teaching younger generations that pictures captured on a smartphone are meant to be manipulated to create the ‘best’ version of not just us, but our friends and family, can be very damaging.
Getting the ‘perfect’ photo will be easier than ever, but that’s not a good thing
It’s annoying that this is one of the main talking points of the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. The rear cameras on both phones sound impressive on paper, with a 50Mp main sensor joined by 12Mp ultrawide on the regular and 48Mp ultrawide and 48Mp 5x telephoto on the Pro.
The new Tensor G3 processor is expected to deliver improvements to Real Tone (for more accurate capturing of skin tones) and Night Sight (for great low-light shooting) extended to videos. It’s got an excellent camera for capturing real photos, so why the need for a feature such as Best Take?
Some photographers argue that there isn’t anything wrong with it, as many on X (formerly Twitter) pointed out. Photographers often use this technique in their own work, especially for the likes of big group shots at weddings.
But the difference is that they are professionals, creating their own style of art (and with the editing hopefully pre-agreed). Arguing that the same sort of process should be applied to personal photos has a whole different meaning.
The discourse surrounding Best Take arguably fits into a wider discussion of the role of AI alongside art and society. Earlier this year, German artist Boris Eldagsen won the Sony World Photography awards, but sparked debate when he revealed that he deliberately entered an AI-generated image to see if the judges could tell the difference between the real thing and something computer generated (via The Guardian).
Whilst Pixel 8 users won’t necessarily be entering prestigious art competitions with their images, they may now consider changing someone’s face the new norm. As such, photos will no longer be a snippet of history – they’ll be yet another cheap AI imitation.
The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are available to pre-order now, with prices starting from $699/£699 and $999/£999 respectively.