6 ms·

For me, the killer ML use case in Google Photos is object recognition. For example, I took a picture of my driver's license a year or so ago, and needed the nu

For me, the killer ML use case in Google Photos is object recognition. For example, I took a picture of my driver's license a year or so ago, and needed the number on a form recently. I just went to Google Photos and searched for "driver's license." Sure enough, the old picture showed up, even though I never manually tagged it.

bduerst 9y ago
Yep, I did this exact same thing and was pleasantly surprised it was able to pull up my passport photo.
DeRock 9y ago
The same is done in the photos app on iOS and macOS, all locally on device. I don’t have a picture of a drivers license, but I just tried “license plate” and “receipt” and both brought back all relevant results.
- ucaetano 9y ago
  Which is mostly useless when you have only 20GB of storage. OTOH, if I ask Google Photos to show me pictures of me on the beach with my friends X and Y, it shows me a picture from 2005, of exactly what I asked. (literally "me on the beach with X and Y"). And if I ask for pictures of me and my friend Z in a party, it shows me pictures of me at Z's wedding 4 years ago. (literally "me with Z in a party").
  - ryanmonroe 9y ago
    Luckily iPhones 7 and up have up to 256GB of storage
    - lostlogin 9y ago
      Which photos seems to think is full whatever I do.
  - mrexroad 9y ago
    Assume you mean the 20GB limitation being iCloud storage? Both iOS and macOS Photos can “optimize photos storage” and will build index of full library without needing to keep photos on device after they’re analyzed / indexed.
username223 9y ago
Don't you carry your driver's license in your wallet? It's just weird to me that someone would think "I need my driver's license number, so I'll search through an online photo archive."
- culturestate 9y ago
  I’m not OP, but I’ve had similar experiences. I don’t carry my license in my wallet because I live in a foreign country where my license is useless (we have a different form of government ID), but I do still need it for occasional administrivia back home.

bduerst 9y ago

Yep, I did this exact same thing and was pleasantly surprised it was able to pull up my passport photo.

DeRock 9y ago

The same is done in the photos app on iOS and macOS, all locally on device. I don’t have a picture of a drivers license, but I just tried “license plate” and “receipt” and both brought back all relevant results.

ucaetano 9y ago
Which is mostly useless when you have only 20GB of storage. OTOH, if I ask Google Photos to show me pictures of me on the beach with my friends X and Y, it shows me a picture from 2005, of exactly what I asked. (literally "me on the beach with X and Y"). And if I ask for pictures of me and my friend Z in a party, it shows me pictures of me at Z's wedding 4 years ago. (literally "me with Z in a party").
- ryanmonroe 9y ago
  Luckily iPhones 7 and up have up to 256GB of storage
  - lostlogin 9y ago
    Which photos seems to think is full whatever I do.
- mrexroad 9y ago
  Assume you mean the 20GB limitation being iCloud storage? Both iOS and macOS Photos can “optimize photos storage” and will build index of full library without needing to keep photos on device after they’re analyzed / indexed.

username223 9y ago

Don't you carry your driver's license in your wallet? It's just weird to me that someone would think "I need my driver's license number, so I'll search through an online photo archive."

culturestate 9y ago
I’m not OP, but I’ve had similar experiences. I don’t carry my license in my wallet because I live in a foreign country where my license is useless (we have a different form of government ID), but I do still need it for occasional administrivia back home.