I have recently written a lot about the potential of generating AI that disrupts established software businesses and related work.
The new Google AI image editing tool provides another good example of this threat. While it offers many of the features of Adobe software, the Google version is free or cheaper and burns into a wider range of AI services that offer more features.
So, is Google's new AI photo editing tool something good?
My colleague Hugh Langley tested an early version of this Google image model called the Nano Banana. He turns out to be superior to his rival tools in general. It's not perfect – sometimes it has been hard to replicate the face when combining two different photos, but he said it's particularly strong to make small tweaks to existing photos.
In the example below, Hugh added glasses to his photo and asked him to change the color of his t-shirt to red. Although glasses and colours are correct in some other AI tools, Google was the only one that retains the striped pattern of the t-shirt. It was also one of the more sharp results.
Business Insider reporter Hugh Langley edited his image using Google's Nano Banana Image Editing Tool. Hullangley/Business Insider/Google
When this full photo editing AI tool was announced on Tuesday as part of Google Gemini, Hugh and I had more fun.
We shared a brief photo of each other with Gemini and asked for “pictures of both of us on a banana boat.” To maintain the banana theme.
For Hugh, it came up with this image. This is a strange guy on the jet ski behind us. Is it our personal security guard?
Alistair Barr and Hugh Langley edited their own photos using Google's new AI image editing tool. Alistair Barr/Hugh Langley/Business Insider/Google Gemini
I took that image and asked Gemini to remove the jet ski guy and kept everything else the same. It did it in seconds.
Alistair Barr and Hugh Langley edited their own photos using Google's new AI image editing tool. Alistair Barr/Hugh Langley/Business Insider/Google Gemini
The photo has been slightly pixelated. Probably because I sent emails back and forth several times. So I started again with Hugh and my original photo and sent the same request to Gemini. I created this in seconds:
Alistair Barr and Hugh Langley edited their own photos using Google's new AI image editing tool. Alistair Barr/Hugh Langley/Business Insider/Google Gemini
This was fast, free and very easy to use. The results were impressive, but not perfect. Gemini gave me bright white teeth of our style. Don't you know I grew up in the UK?
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“I at least look like you! Mine definitely doesn't look like me,” Hugh told me.
Gemini thinned out Hugh. As a new father with little time to exercise, he has no complaints.
“If you lose dad's weight, it's me,” Hugh wrote.
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