In the era of selfies and filters, let’s face it: not all photos turn out flawless. But if you’re rocking a Pixel phone,Google Photos' Magic Editor can work its AI magicto polish your pictures. However, there’s some worry that AI-powered editing tools may fall into abusive hands, leading to forged documents and other shenanigans. Well, Google has some tricks up its sleeve to keep Magic Editor out of mischievous hands. A recent code dive reveals that thephoto editorhas a list of forbidden edits, ensuring your driver’s license or passport stays authentic.
Android Authoritydid some code digging and found out thatGoogle Photos' Magic Editor has a few editing restrictions. If you attempt to use Magic Editor on your ID card, receipt, or any other document with personal info, it won’t let you. The same goes for photos of people’s faces or body parts. So, if you were hoping to use Magic Editor to make a fake ID or alter someone’s photo, you’re out of luck. Magic Editor won’t also let you make drastic changes to large portions of an image.
If you try editing those items, you’ll get an error message saying it’s a no-go according to Google’s terms or that the tool can’t handle erasing or moving objects. It’s all part of the search giant’s policy against using AI to create misleading content.
This policy also says you’re able to’t use AI to create personal information for shady purposes or make content pretending to be someone without letting people know. It doesn’t want people using its tools to deceive others or cause harm.
Some of these restrictions were already in place, according to Android Authority, though Photos was a little vague about why some edits were blocked. The error messages are a big improvement because they tell you exactly why you can’t edit certain photos.
Despite these new restrictions, it seems like there are still some loopholes. Android Authority was able to edit invoices, even though this technically violates Google’s terms of service. It’s unclear why this is the case, but it’s something that Google should probably look into.
Google is also working on text-based prompts for Magic Editor,as per the outlet. This would theoretically allow users to use text prompts to move objects and people in an image, for example. This text-prompt-based generative AI may also let yourPixel 8erase someone from the background of a photo. It’s still unclear how this feature will work exactly, but it’s something to look forward to in the future.
