A newly discovered string of code in the latest Google Photos update reveals that there are certain subjects that the Magic Editor tool on the Pixel 8 series will refuse to edit.
Android Authority recently delved into the Google Photos v.6.60 patch when they ran into the guardrails. First, they state that Magic Editor will not alter images of “ID cards, receipts” or other documents “that violate (the company’s) GenAI Terms.” Second, the tool will not edit “images containing personally identifiable information.” Third, it will not change “human faces (or) body parts.” And finally, Magic Editor doesn’t work on large selected areas in a photo. When you make edits on your Pixel 8 smartphone, keep your selections short and sweet. Highlighted areas that require “a lot of data to be generated” will result in an error message appearing on the screen.
According to the report, Magic Editor was already able to block many of these changes, but the way this was done was very vague. The problem with the previous version was that there were no “specific error messages,” leaving Pixel 8 owners scratching their heads and wondering what went wrong. Things will become a lot clearer in the future. The mobile device tells you specifically what you did wrong.
Room for improvement
Out of curiosity, we tested Magic Eraser on a Chromebook Plus laptop to see if it was possible to change a driver’s license. While not as robust as Magic Editor, the tool also uses a generative AI model that can create pixels to cover parts of a photo. It turns out that it is possible to produce a clean driver’s license using just Magic Eraser, even if it takes a while and it’s not perfect either. It had several defects.
Perhaps Google doesn’t consider the Chromebook Plus feature as capable as Magic Editor and thus didn’t see the need to address its potential shortcomings. However, if the tech giant wants to ensure that bad actors don’t misuse their technology, they may want to close that potential loophole in the Chromebook Plus.
It’s worth pointing out that the news site was able to edit invoices during their investigation. These should technically violate Google’s terms of service since they are documents containing personally identifiable information, but that was not the case. So there is room for improvement in a future update.
Possible future updates
Next to the guardrail, Android Authority has discovered clues that Magic Editor could get “prompt-based editing”. This would give users the ability to move objects and people in an image via text prompts. For example, you could tell the Pixel 8 to move you to the center, erase a random guy in the back, and replace a cloudy sky with a clear one — at least in theory. The report admits there isn’t any hard evidence to suggest how exactly it will work, beyond a few lines of code, but it appears Google is working on it.
If you want to become a better photo editor but don’t know where to start, check out Ny Breaking’s list of the best free photo editing software.