Google is making it easier than ever to generate never-before-seen images with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
AI is getting better than ever at dreaming up pictures from a simple text prompt. You can describe what you want to see — a specific object, colour, or style — and the AI will create an original image based on those instructions. Alternatively, you can recreate the look and composition of an existing image while swapping out certain elements, making it a quick way to visualise creative ideas without having to design everything from scratch.
And now Google's Gemini — the US tech firm's AI assistant — is adding a personalisation tool to tailor images for free. Previously, you'd have needed to shell out for a Google Plus, Pro, or Ultra subscription to get your hands on this feature.
David Sharon, Google's Group Product Manager, said in a blog post: "Personal Intelligence makes the Gemini app feel tailored to you. With your permission, it pulls from Google tools like Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube, and Search to provide the most relevant responses — like an assistant who knows you."
The catch? This new freebie is only available in the US for now.
To achieve the personalisation element, the Gemini app is powered by Personal Intelligence, which Google first introduced earlier this year.
You're meant to be in control of the process. Connecting your Google apps to Gemini — like Gmail, Google Photos, Google Drive, or others — remains entirely opt-in, meaning you choose which services the chatbot can peek into. Once connected, rather than typing out every little detail about yourself, you can simply ask Gemini to "design my dream house," and it'll draw on what it's learned from your connected Google services.
It gets better, too. Gemini can also access your actual photos stored in Google Photos, so there's no need to manually upload pictures of yourself to give the app a reference.
For example, if you want to create an image of yourself with your favourite things, the app pulls the right context from your Gmail, YouTube, Search history, and photos, so you spend less time explaining and more time creating.
There are a few age restrictions worth noting. To generate and edit images, you'll need to be at least 18 years old and use a personal account. Younger users aged 13 and up can still use the image generation side of things, though.
The feature works across quite a few languages too, including English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Dutch, Indonesian, Portuguese, and Turkish.
