Google is testing Their new “Ask Photos” feature which lets you explore your image library in new ways. The feature, which Google first introduced in May, is rolling out to select Google Labs users in the US and will let you ask questions like “Where did we camp last time we went to Yosemite?” or “What did we eat at the hotel in Stanley?”
Using Google's Gemini artificial intelligence models, the Photos app will offer an answer based on the content of your photos and also display images relevant to your question.
Google says you can even use Ask Photos to complete tasks, like summarizing things you did on a recent vacation or picking out the best photos of your family to put in a shared album. You can sign up for the waiting list to access Ask Photos at Google Website.
By using Ask Photos, Google will allow you to change Google has updated its feature to what it now calls “classic search,” or the current way of searching for images. But Google is also improving this feature, as you can now search for images using natural language, such as “Alice and I laughing” or “Kayaking on a lake surrounded by mountains.” You can then sort the search results by date or relevance. This feature is rolling out in English on Android and iOS, with support for more languages coming in the “coming weeks.”
In preparation for this change, Google Photos has replaced the Library tab with a new Collection page that is supposed to make it easier to find all of your photos and videos. While I haven't had time to explore the new tab, I'll definitely be taking advantage of natural language search so I can finally find specific images without having to scroll through thousands of images or limit them by location.
