"If it looks too good to be true, it probably is."
This phrase applies to many things, including the flawless images we're bombarded with on social media or the ads we get for products that don't actually look that good in real life. There's a general understanding that pictures of models in magazines and on Instagram have been retouched and that even our friends' vacation photos have been meticulously edited before going out into the world.
Photo editing is nothing new, and neither is the deception that accompanies it.
Now we have tools like Clean Up in iOS 18. This feature uses AI to remove unwanted objects from your photos, including photobombers, right from your iPhone. Just tap or circle the object you want to get rid of, and Clean Up will make it disappear -- no Photoshop or other third-party software is needed. It's part of the Apple Intelligence suite of AI features, and won't be available until later this year. When it does, I expect many people will be eager to try it out.
Tools like Magic Eraser, which can be accessed on Google Pixel phones as well as iPhones via the Google Photos app, and Object eraser on Samsung Galaxy phones do the same thing as Clean Up. The goal is to give you a picture-perfect image without distractions, with a little help from AI.
Any feature that taps AI is going to raise questions about ethics. Will generated images fool people into believing events that never really happened? Will AI voice clones spread misinformation, especially in an election year? How will people know the videos they're watching are real, and not AI-generated? These are all questions we should keep asking as artificial intelligence rapidly advances, with no signs of slowing down.
What about Apple's new Clean Up tool? Does that compromise the integrity of a photo? Will we even be able to trust that any images online are authentic?
Apple's entry into this space will only make on-device AI photo editing tools more mainstream. Having that capability whether you're on an iPhone, Pixel phone or Galaxy phone means features like Clean Up, Magic Eraser and Object eraser will slowly become normalized, in the same way we don't hesitate to apply filters to our Instagram photos. And that doesn't really feel like we're trying to intentionally bamboozle anyone, does it?
The first time I used Object eraser on an old Galaxy phone, I was in awe. It was a beach shot of me and a friend in Hawaii, which was perfect, apart from one thing: a blue tent in the background was totally killing the vibe. In a matter of seconds, I made the tent disappear, and suddenly, I had a frame-worthy photo. I grappled with the ethics of it for a bit, before deciding the integrity of the photo hadn't been compromised just because I'd removed an irrelevant distraction. This image wasn't going anywhere other than Instagram. Now, I look forward to using Clean Up on my iPhone when it rolls out this fall.
AI is only going to lead to more uncertainty and gray areas as it infiltrates our lives and tech. People will misuse it, and we'll have to remain cognizant of false information and trickery.
In the grand scheme of things, a tool like Clean Up shouldn't be much cause for concern. It's merely designed to polish up a photo and prevent you from cursing the stranger who inadvertently ruined your perfect "solo" shot on the beach, or the tourists crowding that landmark you captured. It's a way to simplify a task that previously, only someone with access to pricey third-party software could do. Now, it's in the palm of your hand.
Social media will always be rife with images of altered faces and bodies, exaggerated product testimonials and glamorized tourist traps designed to lure you. The capability to merely erase a photobomber shouldn't alter our social fabric too much.