The Pixel 10 Pro’s 100x zoom is way too good, with one caveat

What is a photo? I see that question on my timeline more and more, and as phone makers begin to introduce AI-enhanced photos, the question is valid. When Google announced 100x Pro Res Zoom on its new Pixel 10 Pro lineup — which uses AI to enhance a very digitally-zoomed-in photo — that question of what makes a photo a photo rang loudly in my mind. Does it really matter how the photo is created if you like the end result and it looks like what it’s supposed to look like? Well, that depends, and we’ll get to that, but first let’s dive in and take a look at what this 100x zoom looks like in real-life use.

I was shocked the first time I scrolled all the way to the right on the zoom slider, snapped my photo, then watched the sparkles dance around on my screen as Google’s artificial intelligence worked to recreate and enhance what I only saw as a grainy, pixelated scene on my screen. Within a few moments, the dancing pixels dissolved to reveal the final result: an incredibly detailed and very accurate photograph of a scene that I could hardly see with my own eyes. Consider me mind-blown. That moment truly felt shocking.

100x zoom is far. Reeeeally far. Even before the AI processing, you see details on your screen that you’d never know were there; they’re just extremely pixelated. In the above photo, you can hardly see the church in the 1x photo, but thanks to Pro Res Zoom on the Pixel 10 Pro, I can get a good-looking shot right from where I’m standing. Just take a look at this photo of a hotel that I recently took in Phoenix, Arizona:

You’ll notice that the enhanced version of the photo does a good job of keeping the details true to life. Look at the stain on the building, for example. It’s there in the original photo, and it seems to hold it’s shape and color relative to the original photo, even after its been enhanced.

Even this picture of the moon seems to hold the pattern I saw in real life. Old accusations of brands ‘faking’ images of the moon using AI seem rather silly now that Google is doing similar for practically everything you can point your camera at.

It’s good, but it’s not perfect

While Pro Res Zoom seemingly does a great job upscaling photos, I’ve noticed some issues with logos and smaller text. Take this picture of a traffic light, for example:

There is a scrolling digital billboard behind the traffic light, and you can see in the original photo that the Pepsi logo looks at least somewhat correct — albeit pixelated — but after the AI has run its course, the Pepsi logo comes out warped. I wouldn’t call this a deal-breaker for me, but I don’t exactly love how that looks. This is a dead giveaway that AI was used in the photo.

Should we really be using AI in our photos?

I sent some of these sample shots to a group chat of mine to see what they thought, and while many agreed the results are impressive, there was an equally wary consensus. “Is that even a photo of anything real anymore,” a person replied, “or did the AI fill in so many gaps that it no longer represents reality? Just the things I think about when it comes to AI.”

I think my group chat’s concerns are valid. I’ve gone back and forth on how to feel about this myself, but the reality is that our smartphones have used AI to enhance photos for a long time now, even before what we’re seeing in this year’s devices. Think about something as simple as a picture of a beautiful sunset. If you’re using a modern smartphone, your camera app has been trained on countless sunset images and can automatically adjust the camera settings to produce the best sunset picture possible, all without you having to think about what settings to change. That’s AI. This type of functionality is on millions of smartphones already, with new AI features being added each year. However, Pro Res Zoom is definitely another level compared to what we’ve seen before.

To me, the answer to this question really depends on what the photo is for. For example, I’m huge on journaling and love snapping photos throughout my day. How many of those photos will ever be seen by anyone other than me and perhaps some family and friends? Not very many, if any at all. In other words, these photos are just for me. With that in mind, I want these photos to look as good as possible, even if they are not entirely from an optical lens. However, I’d still like to pull back the curtain a bit on the AI magic. Is the photo fully re-generated pixel by pixel, or do parts of the photo remain intact from the optical sensor? How does the average user know which parts of the photo have been touched by AI and which haven’t? These are important questions, and if made clear, then the user could then decide if they want to use AI in their photos or not.

There are instances where I don’t think AI should be used in photography. The personal use case makes sense, and I think a lot of people would be frustrated with their sunset photos if they had to manually adjust their camera settings. However, I do believe photography in the professional space should stay away from integrating AI. I don’t want to see an AI-generated photo of my favorite basketball player’s game-winning shot, for example. I want to see a professional photographer’s picture perfect moment, taken through a giant professional lens. No need for AI there. Fortunately, manual photography isn’t going anywhere for those that prefer it.

There’s already enough AI slop out there, and we’re still in the very early stages of what AI will become. For the sake of society, some things should probably just be left alone in their natural state. At the very least, whenever AI is involved, it’s crucial that it’s made clear to the user and to anyone viewing the image or video.

Importantly, Google is making it extremely obvious when a Pro Res Zoom photo has been enhanced with AI. In the main photo grid of Google Photos, the image shows a small magnifying glass icon with the little Gemini sparkle logo in the upper right corner of the photo’s thumbnail preview. Additionally, the metadata of the photo has a dedicated section indicating the use of AI. I’m so glad Google is proactively adding this information to the photo. There’s no reason to hide it, and users should be made aware of what they are using.

In a perfect world, would I rather have 100x optical zoom for these long-range photos? Of course. But thanks to physics and physical space in the real world, I don’t think we’re fitting long-distance optical zoom lenses in our pocket any time soon. But you know what does fit in my pocket? That’s right, a Google Pixel 10 Pro with AI. And the results are pretty incredible.