TECH NEWS – RealFill proves that Alphabet (Google’s parent company) is spending a lot of money on generative artificial intelligence, because what’s been revealed about the new feature, which has yet to be officially announced, isn’t bad.

Google’s AI tools are available on its own Pixel phones and Samsung devices, but the expansion won’t stop there, as the tech company is reportedly working on RealFill, which will be particularly beneficial for users with a penchant for photography. The patent was filed by Google last week and has already been submitted in Europe (EUIPO) and the US (USPTO). The model works by providing non-downloadable software for inpainting images using artificial intelligence; and online, non-downloadable software for creating generative models. The official characterization does not clearly define what to expect, but the accompanying images explain it better.

This isn’t the first RealFill, as it was previously developed jointly by researchers at Google and Cornell University, and there’s a research paper titled “Reference-driven generation for authentic image completion” that explains how the technology was used to complete an existing image using five reference images. It may be similar to an image generation technology called stable diffusion. But it’s not perfect yet, because RealFill is slower than the other options, and recovering the image from the last scene is not an easy task. Text can also complicate things and make things worse.

Just because a patent has been filed does not automatically mean that the technology will eventually reach the public. Trademarks are often registered, but not all of them are finalized. But surely Google Photos or Pixel phones will get the technology in some form or another, but that too remains to be seen. The first results are pretty impressive, there’s no denying that.

Will Google show off RealFill in some form this year? It would be surprising if not.

Source: WCCFTech, Arxiv