Just as I was begrudgingly coming to appreciate some of what AI might have to offer me, something has come along to remind me that I kind of hate it.
Around a month ago, I wrote a piece about how this particular AI refusenik was beginning to thaw on the topic of AI in smartphones. Thank Sony – a company I generally have a lot of time for – for snapping me out of it.
The Japanese giant has just launched its latest Sony Xperia 1 VIII smartphone. It’s now posted on social media a selection of comparative sample images showing the new AI Camera Assistant feature in action.
Sony
Those images that have received the AI Camera Assistant treatment are flat and downright overexposed, with background detail blitzed out or even missing completely.
Could the original shots use a little HDR correction? Sure, a little. But even in this state, they have a sense of shade and of natural colour that knocks the fiddled-with shots for six.
The sandwich shot is even worse, losing all detail in the lettuce, the crust and, well, everything. Plus, once again, overexposing the entire shot so the colours are washed out. I could go on.
Are they perhaps the wrong way around? I hope so for Sony’s sake.
Sony
I’m not the only person to observe that the AI-enhanced images look markedly worse than the original, undoctored snaps. Check out the comments on X!
It’s bizarre that any company would deem these good, let alone a company with Sony’s level of photographic expertise. I’m genuinely staggered that it thought this was a positive showcase for its new phone – which, let’s face it, is already up against it to achieve a significant level of attention and sales.
Sony has resisted heavy image processing for years in its flagship phones, resulting in some of the most artistically pleasing snaps of any handset brand, if not the most sharable on social media.
With these latest AI ‘enhanced’ images, it seems to be headed in completely the opposite direction.
Sony responds(ish)
After originally posting this article, the internet outrage and sheer disbelief continued to spiral. So much so that the likes of Marques Brownlee, Carl Pei and Ice Universe even got involved.
While it seemed likely that Sony would remove the posts from social channels and go hide in a cave until it all blew over, the firm has responded.
A follow-up post says that the AI Camera Assistant doesn’t edit photos after they are shot. Instead, the feature comes up with four setting suggestions (filters essentially) to give you a range of different “creative directions” to choose from.
There’s still a lot that’s unclear, however, including whether the original samples were incorrect. There’s also the fact that the new samples, depicting a plate of salad, a bowl of soup and a book, are significantly better. Everyone at Tech Advisor still prefers the original.
The AI-ification of photography is catching
It would be easy to blame this blip on a company not entirely au fait with this newfangled AI enhancement thing. Worryingly, however, it could be part of an emerging consensus from tech companies.
Google recently previewed some of the changes coming to Android 17. One of those new features was Smart Enhance, which promises to improve the quality of your old photos and videos using AI.
Sounds neat, right? Except, the sample ‘before and after’ images that Google provided in its keynote video didn’t quite achieve the effect they were after.
The post-AI images looked unnaturally over-brightened and flat, robbing the image of any depth or shadow. To these eyes (and others), they just don’t look very good.
If both the world’s leading purveyor of AI-enhanced image processing and one of the world’s biggest camera makers are making these same bizarre creative choices, those of us who like our photos to reflect reality should be concerned.
