Google Photos Crazy New Tool Lets You Turn Photos Into Videos

Google is introducing a couple of new features today within Google Photos that were inevitable, thanks to AI. Whether these are good or bad features is not up for me to decide, although you can probably imagine where I’m leaning. Either way, just know that you’ll now be able to take a photo and have AI make a video out of it. You’ll also be able to “remix” a photo into anime or cartoon or a 3D animation.

Google Photos new AI tools – Photo to Video, Remix, Create tab: In total, there are actually 3 announcements from Google today. There’s “Photo to Video” and “Remix,” but they are giving us a new “Create” tab too. This will be the place where all of your AI items live, with the potential for more or less tools in the future, depending on how all this goes.

The new Google Photos “Photo to Video” feature is probably the one to really focus on here, as your imagination goes places with this that maybe our still photos shouldn’t go. Thankfully, that’s not Google’s plan for now. Instead, Google will let you choose a photo and and then pick from two options of “Subtle movement” or “I’m feeling lucky.” These will then create short 6-second AI-generated clips of your photo.

This new “Photo to Video” feature will begin rolling out as early as today in the US on Android and iOS.

And then we have “Remix,” which is a feature where you’ll choose a photo and then turn it into a style. Google suggests style choices of “anime, comics, sketches or 3D animations,” though there could be more we aren’t seeing or that will arrive in the future. This is a silly feature that could be fun at times and is mostly harmless. But please, don’t make a wedding photo into a cartoon, share it publicly, and think anyone cares, OK?

This new “Remix” feature will start rolling out in the US on Android and iOS in the “next few weeks.”

Finally, we have the new “Create” tab that will show up in August in the US. This tab is simply a place for all of your creative-type tools within Google Photos to live. You’ll find the two new features we mentioned above, as well as your collages, highlight videos, and others.

Google says that they want to bring these tools “responsibly” to the world, so they are adding SynthID digital watermarks to both Remix and Photo to Video creations. They will also try to proactively identify other issues to prevent misuse and want your feedback, so be sure to use thumbs up or down buttons if you like or dislike something their tools create.

Thoughts?

// Google