Google introduces AI-powered Magic Editor taking on-device photo editing to a new level

Minutes ago at Google I/O, CEO Sundar Pichai introduced Magic Editor, the next logical step after the Magic Eraser which eliminates unwanted people pets and items from photos snapped with a Pixel phone. Magic Editor uses generative AI to allow you to edit your phones to help you get the image that you were aiming for. For example, with Magic Editor, you'll be able to change the framing of your pictures by moving the subject of your photo.

As Pichai pointed out during Google I/O, if you're taking a photo in front of a waterfall, Magic Editor will allow you to remove a bag strap, brighten the skies making them less cloudy, and move the subject in front of the waterfall to make it appear as though he is catching the water from the waterfall in his hand. Cool!

As Google says in a just-published blog post, "With Magic Editor, you’ll be able to make complex edits without pro-level editing skills. Using a combination of AI techniques, including generative AI, it will help you make edits to specific parts of an image — like the subject, sky or background — so you have even more control over the final look and feel of your photo."

Another example that Sundar showed was the picture of a boy sitting on a bench during his birthday. With Magic Editor, you can reposition the subject to the center of the photograph, and with AI, you can even move the bench and balloons, both of which were cut off in the original photo.

Pixel phones will get early access to the Magic Editor later this year. To be sure, the company is calling it experimental technology, but Magic Editor will use AI to take the editing experience on a smartphone to the next level. And the use of AI fits in with the underlying theme of today's Google I/O developer conference.