Adobe Photoshop now uses generative AI, will edit and modify photos when users tell it to

By Abhik SenguptaAdobe is integrating generative AI capabilities into its photo editing tool, Photoshop. Earlier in March, Adobe unveiled Dall-E and Midjourney-inspired Firefly, a platform that lets users create images based on simple text commands. Photoshop is now incorporating a Firefly-powered “Generative Fill” to assist professionals in removing or adding elements to the image with simple text commands.

In essence, Generative Fill boosts Photoshop’s existing AI-powered “Content-Aware Fill” tool that fills selected portions of an image with content sampled from other parts of the same photo. The latter is a super-handy tool for adjusting the background, applying textures, or creating unique effects without pixelating the original image. Adobe notes that Firefly-powered Generative Fill brings “more precision, power, speed and ease directly into workflows where content is created or modified.”

Additionally, creators can add and remove elements with simple text inputs. Adobe explains Generative Fill automatically matches the perspective, lighting and style of images to enable users to achieve “astounding results” while reducing tedious tasks.

In a release, Adobe suggests that more tools within Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite might incorporate generative AI-powered tools. Ashley Still, senior vice president, Digital Media at Adobe, “Generative Fill combines the speed and ease of generative AI with the power and precision of Photoshop, empowering customers to bring their visions to life at the speed of their imaginations.”

Adobe notes that its generative AI, Firefly, is designed to generate images “safe for commercial use.” Creator’s IP was also the focus of Firefly’s presentation. The company says it trains the model on Adobe Stock image. Notably, Firefly has become one of the most successful beta launches in Adobe’s history, with beta users generating over 100 million assets.

Initially, the standalone platform focused on the generation of images and text effects. The Firefly-powered Generative Fill is also coming on Firefly’s web version. Whereas, Photoshop’s Generative Fill feature is available in the desktop beta app today and will be generally available in the second half of 2023. Users with Firefly beta access can test the feature too.

The company explains that its latest tool acts as a “co-pilot” for users. Adobe promises to deploy all AI capabilities with a “customer-centric approach and, according to its AI Ethics principles, to ensure content and data transparency.”

Since the public rollout of generative AI tools like Dall-E, ChatGPT, and Bing Chat, many companies have been introducing their own iteration of conversation AI tools to stay ahead of the curve. Google is also collaborating with Adobe to integrate Flyfire’s text-to-image generating capabilities into Bard — its ChatGPT rival. Bard’s image-generating tool is yet to be available to all users.