Google uses AI to pick out users' most boring photos

It's a handy new feature, but won't exactly quell existing privacy fears about the company

You won't need to permanently delete any ugly pictures you might need in the future (AFP/Getty)

Google is using artificial intelligence to analyse your photos and identify any boring ones you might not want to see.

The company has just rolled out an update to its Photos app, which now suggests which of your pictures you should keep and which you should dump in the new Archive folder.

It’s targeting dull things like screenshots and photos of documents, notes and receipts, and will hide them from your main picture stream.

You can find the suggestions by tapping the Assistant button in the bottom left-hand corner of the app.

“We take a lot of photos. Many are of our memorable moments, big and small, but some are of things we need to do or remember, such as receipts, screenshots, notes, and documents,” said Google.

“You can review the suggestions and remove any photos you don’t want archived, and tap to confirm when you’re done.”

Archived photos won’t appear in your main photos stream, but you’ll still be able to find them in your albums, search results and Archive folder.

You can also manually choose a picture to archive by opening it, tapping the options button and hitting Archive.

It’s a handy new option, which lets you organise your pictures without forcing you to permanently delete any you might need at some point in the future.

Google, however, has raised eyebrows with its heavy focus on photo analysis using machine-learning.

The company recently announced Google Lens, a new product that is coming to Photos and Assistant, which will be able to analyse everything it sees in your pictures and through your camera.

From there, it will understand the context, work out where you are, and figure out what you want to do.

It will even recognise the people in your pictures, tell you to send the right photos to the right people, and invite your contacts to send pictures of you, to you.