

For example, “optical flow” technology can snap a dozen or more pictures in rapid succession, then use AI software to align and combine them into a single image free of any blur from camera shake. What is an AI camera and how does it work?Īn AI camera relies on special software to give users the ability to snap images that previously only high-end cameras were able to capture. The result is a phone that lets you take stunning photos without having to master any new or complex tools, and at a much lower price than professional-grade cameras. The Pixel camera’s capabilities are further enhanced by the new Google Tensor chip, a custom-built processor made by Google, which lets the camera perform complex AI tasks. They missed the boat on this idea that cameras should be more than physical-optical machines.” Most of the improvements now, Efros adds, “can all be done in a cell phone, in software.” “Early camera phones were all about doing old-school optics right,” says Alexei Efros, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley who teaches computational photography, the image capture and processing techniques that go into making an AI camera.

For example, AI in the Pixel camera lets you take sharp photos in low light, remove unwanted items from an image, or unblur your kids’ faces, even when they start jumping in the middle of a shot.

These AI tools combine the capabilities of a professional camera with features that previously have been available only in editing software.

While better lenses and sensors are responsible for some of these advances, the biggest improvements come from powerful artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology that meld hardware with software to create an AI camera – like that of Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
