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Last week Google's AI thought it would be fun to create a silly photo reel of my dogs capering about. It then happily mixed in photos of them dying at the veter

Last week Google's AI thought it would be fun to create a silly photo reel of my dogs capering about. It then happily mixed in photos of them dying at the veterinary office, all set to whimsical music. I hate this pseudo-cutesy zero-context crap so very, very much.

squeegmeister 5y ago
Oh my god, lol. I'm sorry
klabb3 5y ago
Yeah, I feel you. As soon as these features started to get traction, I knew this would happen. Certainly some people have had much worse experiences than you. Mental issues can also intensify reactions to memories. The worst part is that it's unsolicited. At least have the courtesy to ask.
- stickfigure 5y ago
  It's a given that the algorithm will not understand how each individual picture will affect you. Even a real not-you human would struggle. You're either "in" for the whole memory-lane ride, or not at all. There's no wrong answer; for some people the past is more painful than joyous. Personally, I'll take the occasional jarring bad to get the bountiful reminders of the good. Or maybe it's just my personality to take more pictures of happy things.
  - klabb3 5y ago
    So.. I just checked and both Google and Apple Photos do NOT allow you to disable memories. Everything is on by default, but you can disable notifications, specific dates and faces, but you can't disable it altogether. If most people like it, fine to leave it on by default I guess - the growth team has to get promoted some way. But at least let me disable it.
    - arethuza 5y ago
      If find the notification from Apple a bit alarming in a Black Mirror kind of way: "You have a new memory"
    - muro 5y ago
      I just checked Google photos and you can disable people or dates, as well as notifications (on Android).
      - Baeocystin 5y ago
        Worth mentioning that even with People disabled, it'll still produce 'Spotlight on You' sequences, and if you search for a person, they become fair game again for future photo collages.
    - Nextgrid 5y ago
      There’s no valid reason I can see for “Photos” to send you notifications at all. I mean, 10 years ago did we provide our email/phone number to our DSLRs or paper photo albums? No, and we’ve ended up just fine. Disable that crap entirely. Same goes for a lot of preinstalled apps - News, Music, Game Center (why does that one still exist?), etc.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
oefnak 5y ago
On the other hand, aren't you a bit weird for taking the photos back then?
- rndmio 5y ago
  You're getting downvotes for saying it, but I had the same thought. If I'm getting my camera out it's because I want to take a photo of something I want to remember or see again. Never once have I thought of taking a photo of my pets at the vets, and most especially not when I took them to be put down.
  - hnbad 5y ago
    All people grieve differently. For some it may make perfect sense to try and capture those last moments with a beloved companion even if there are happier moments to look back on and even if those last moments may later be too unbearable to ever look at again (but also too important to simply delete). Your comment and the one you replied to can be read as "you're weird and you grieve wrong", which is extremely rude and unsymapthetic given the context. It's also entirely orthogonal to the complaint that these features should be opt-in or allow you to opt out. That complaint is entirely valid but questioning the decision to capture sad moments suggests it's not.
    - Baeocystin 5y ago
      Thank you for saying this.
  - 112233 5y ago
    Yes, but would you like to have a choice, when to look at these photos? Imagine that someone buys a bottle of alcohol. Should he not have an option not to drink it, even if Alexa says he should?
- Baeocystin 5y ago
  Surely you understand that photography serves a vast number of purposes, and not just 'fun'? Other people also loved my dogs, and giving them a final photograph to say goodbye to helped them. I also have photographs of tax documents, graves, medical issues, and, yes, lots of fun things as well, all of which serve their purpose. No one (except for Google's AI) would think they all belong in the same bucket to pull from.
kelnos 5y ago
I have two young cats, and Google Photos already makes featured memory things with them in it. I've been seeing the older one in the "1 year ago" memory slot a lot during the past 4 months, and the younger one should start joining him there in a month or so. Hopefully they'll be with me for many years to come, but of course they will eventually pass away. I take a lot of photos of them, and I know after they pass, they will show up in these "X years ago" memory slots frequently enough that I will be unable to look at theses memory things at all. It's depressing to think about. I can't imagine how people who have a spouse who has died (or, god forbid, a child who has died) deal with these sorts of unexpected, unplanned, unwelcome reminders of who they've lost. And beyond that, I've have 10+ years of photos in there... I often see ex-partners show up. Fortunately it doesn't bother me that much, but I can imagine it could be really uncomfortable for many people. On the flip side, I really do love the innocuous trips down memory lane this sort of thing gives me all the time. But it would be so easy to completely ruin the experience if the wrong photo shows up.
- chrisdhal 5y ago
  My son died 10 years ago at age 21, my dad died 3 years ago. There's also a couple cats and a dog who have died along the way. I LOVE seeing Google photos rotate in pictures of them in this type of thing. It brings back great memories and I always smile. To me, this is better than having them stashed in a printed photo album that I never look at or in Google Photos album that I never look at.
  - Baeocystin 5y ago
    While this isn't the same reaction I have, it makes me happy to hear that at least someone is enjoying these things, and I say that sincerely. My condolences for your loss.

squeegmeister 5y ago

Oh my god, lol. I'm sorry

klabb3 5y ago

Yeah, I feel you. As soon as these features started to get traction, I knew this would happen. Certainly some people have had much worse experiences than you. Mental issues can also intensify reactions to memories. The worst part is that it's unsolicited. At least have the courtesy to ask.

stickfigure 5y ago
It's a given that the algorithm will not understand how each individual picture will affect you. Even a real not-you human would struggle. You're either "in" for the whole memory-lane ride, or not at all. There's no wrong answer; for some people the past is more painful than joyous. Personally, I'll take the occasional jarring bad to get the bountiful reminders of the good. Or maybe it's just my personality to take more pictures of happy things.
- klabb3 5y ago
  So.. I just checked and both Google and Apple Photos do NOT allow you to disable memories. Everything is on by default, but you can disable notifications, specific dates and faces, but you can't disable it altogether. If most people like it, fine to leave it on by default I guess - the growth team has to get promoted some way. But at least let me disable it.
  - arethuza 5y ago
    If find the notification from Apple a bit alarming in a Black Mirror kind of way: "You have a new memory"
  - muro 5y ago
    I just checked Google photos and you can disable people or dates, as well as notifications (on Android).
    - Baeocystin 5y ago
      Worth mentioning that even with People disabled, it'll still produce 'Spotlight on You' sequences, and if you search for a person, they become fair game again for future photo collages.
  - Nextgrid 5y ago
    There’s no valid reason I can see for “Photos” to send you notifications at all. I mean, 10 years ago did we provide our email/phone number to our DSLRs or paper photo albums? No, and we’ve ended up just fine. Disable that crap entirely. Same goes for a lot of preinstalled apps - News, Music, Game Center (why does that one still exist?), etc.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

oefnak 5y ago

On the other hand, aren't you a bit weird for taking the photos back then?

rndmio 5y ago
You're getting downvotes for saying it, but I had the same thought. If I'm getting my camera out it's because I want to take a photo of something I want to remember or see again. Never once have I thought of taking a photo of my pets at the vets, and most especially not when I took them to be put down.
- hnbad 5y ago
  All people grieve differently. For some it may make perfect sense to try and capture those last moments with a beloved companion even if there are happier moments to look back on and even if those last moments may later be too unbearable to ever look at again (but also too important to simply delete). Your comment and the one you replied to can be read as "you're weird and you grieve wrong", which is extremely rude and unsymapthetic given the context. It's also entirely orthogonal to the complaint that these features should be opt-in or allow you to opt out. That complaint is entirely valid but questioning the decision to capture sad moments suggests it's not.
  - Baeocystin 5y ago
    Thank you for saying this.
- 112233 5y ago
  Yes, but would you like to have a choice, when to look at these photos? Imagine that someone buys a bottle of alcohol. Should he not have an option not to drink it, even if Alexa says he should?
Baeocystin 5y ago
Surely you understand that photography serves a vast number of purposes, and not just 'fun'? Other people also loved my dogs, and giving them a final photograph to say goodbye to helped them. I also have photographs of tax documents, graves, medical issues, and, yes, lots of fun things as well, all of which serve their purpose. No one (except for Google's AI) would think they all belong in the same bucket to pull from.

kelnos 5y ago

I have two young cats, and Google Photos already makes featured memory things with them in it. I've been seeing the older one in the "1 year ago" memory slot a lot during the past 4 months, and the younger one should start joining him there in a month or so. Hopefully they'll be with me for many years to come, but of course they will eventually pass away. I take a lot of photos of them, and I know after they pass, they will show up in these "X years ago" memory slots frequently enough that I will be unable to look at theses memory things at all. It's depressing to think about. I can't imagine how people who have a spouse who has died (or, god forbid, a child who has died) deal with these sorts of unexpected, unplanned, unwelcome reminders of who they've lost. And beyond that, I've have 10+ years of photos in there... I often see ex-partners show up. Fortunately it doesn't bother me that much, but I can imagine it could be really uncomfortable for many people. On the flip side, I really do love the innocuous trips down memory lane this sort of thing gives me all the time. But it would be so easy to completely ruin the experience if the wrong photo shows up.

chrisdhal 5y ago
My son died 10 years ago at age 21, my dad died 3 years ago. There's also a couple cats and a dog who have died along the way. I LOVE seeing Google photos rotate in pictures of them in this type of thing. It brings back great memories and I always smile. To me, this is better than having them stashed in a printed photo album that I never look at or in Google Photos album that I never look at.
- Baeocystin 5y ago
  While this isn't the same reaction I have, it makes me happy to hear that at least someone is enjoying these things, and I say that sincerely. My condolences for your loss.