Category Archives: AI/ML

Omni Teapot

3D, AI/ML, Google Omni

My 16yo is lowkey impressed that at Adobe I got to work with Utah Teapot creator Martin Newell. At this point, anything that impresses a teen is very welcome. 🙂

I wonder what he’d think of Gemini Omni turning real teapots into geometry just by saying the word:

Puppetry + AI FTW: Behind the Scenes with Timmy TPU

AI/ML, Design, Google Omni

I love the blend old-school puppetry, 3D animation, Gemini Omni, and the latest experimental video tools that went into creating TPU Training Day, the short film that debuted during Google I/O 2026.

I know you’ve heard it a million times, but it bears repeating: AI isn’t a substitute for human creativity, or in many cases even for traditional techniques. It’s just a whole new toolbox that can multiply our expressive powers.

And here’s the film itself:

Check out Google Flow Agent

AI/ML, Google Flow

Did I have “Google makes cool, extensible, AI-powered creative tools” on my 2026 Bingo card? I did not—and I’m happy to be wrong! Check this out:

According to the docs, you can use the Agent to:

  • Brainstorm and plan: Chat with the Agent to outline storyboards, develop visual mood boards, and turn high-level concepts into actionable prompts.
  • Generate new media: Ask the Agent to generate videos or images and select the best model to generate with.
  • Edit assets directly: Ask the Agent to edit selected media from your project.
  • Batch generate: Ask the Agent to create multiple variations of an asset at once.
  • Organize your assets: Ask the Agent to rename specific files, group selected media into a new Collection, or archive unused assets.
  • Add context & references: Drag media into the Agent prompt box from your device or project. You can also select multiple assets and let the agent know which media you are referring to.

3D typography using Omni + Flow

3D, AI/ML, Google Flow, Google Omni, Typography

Check out this cool little technique:

This is especially wild when you consider where typography stood just a couple of years ago—for which I’ll forever be kinda nostalgic. 🙂

A beautiful moment of expressivity unlocked

AI/ML, Shit That Actually Matters

Despite—or maybe because—of my line of work, I have some genuinely mixed emotions about AI. Is it about empowerment, devaluation, theft, magic? Yes. It is all, as my wife would say of me, A Lot™.

Alongside whatever else it may be, however, the tech can be a genuine enabler of human expressivity. If you don’t believe me, just take 90 seconds to read & watch this heartfelt moment:

Vibe-code your own VFX apps & more Google Flow Tools

AI/ML, Google Flow, Google Omni

Democratize all the apps!!

I think this new platform will be a major sleeper hit:

With Google Flow Tools, you can build creative workflows customized to fit your creative process. Explore a gallery of premade Tools built by creatives, remix existing ones to fit your needs, or create your own from scratch by just typing a description of what you want to create. You can shape and iterate on these Tools fluidly, adjusting them for individual projects, or singular clips and images. All users can explore Tools in Google Flow, and Google AI subscribers can create custom Tools from scratch or remix existing ones.

Check out the ways some artists have been spinning up tools & putting them to work:

Google Earth + Omni = Drone magic

3D, AI/ML, Google Omni

My friend Bilawal, who used to work in Google’s Geo group (Earth, Maps, and more), has created an eye-popping faux-drone video using Omni Flash:

Here’s another exploration, inspired by Bilawal’s:

Awesome examples of Omni video transformation

AI/ML, Google Omni

This is such a wild, game-changing feature:

I think Carlos gets it exactly right: “I think many are focusing on the wrong aspect of the Gemini Omni model when comparing it to Seedance 2.0, since conceptually they are entirely different things. This is a model for editing videos (like Nano Banana) like we’ve never had before!“

“Nano Banana for video” is here!

AI/ML, Google Omni, Nano Banana

I’m so pleased to be playing a very small role in bringing breakthrough video transformation to the world. Check out the new Gemini Omni:

The team writes,

We’re introducing Gemini Omni, where Gemini’s ability to reason meets the ability to create. Omni is our new model that can create anything from any input — starting with video. With Omni, you can combine images, audio, video and text as input and generate high-quality videos grounded in Gemini’s real-world knowledge. You can also easily edit your videos through conversation.

Today, we’re rolling out the first model in the Omni family: Gemini Omni Flash, to the Gemini app, Google Flow and YouTube Shorts. In time we will support output modalities like image and audio.

Conversational video editing is the real breakthrough:

Check it out & let us know what you think!

Putting in the mental reps

AI/ML, Idle Philosophizing

I keep finding myself thinking of this observation from Paul Graham:

“In preindustrial times most people’s jobs made them strong. Now if you want to be strong, you work out. So there are still strong people, but only those who choose to be. It will be the same with writing. There will still be smart people, but only those who choose to be.“

To reiterate from a previous post, quoting Keep the Robots Out of the Gym:

Think very carefully about where you get help from AI.

I think of it as Job vs. Gym.

  • If we’re working a manual labor job, it’s fine to have AI lift heavy things for us because the actual goal is to move the thing, not to lift it.
  • This is the exact opposite of going to the gym, where the goal is to lift the weight, not to move it.

He argues for identifying gym tasks (e.g. critical thinking, problem solving), and for those use just your brain (with minimal AI assistance, if any).

My primary metric for this is whether or not I am getting sharper at the skills that are closest to my identity.

Try personalized image creation via Gemini

AI/ML, Google Photos, Nano Banana

As I often said back in the day, Google’s longstanding mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it useful.” A lot of that information is photographic, and a lot of that information is private; hence the value and power of Google Photos. It knows (with your blessings) who’s who, what places are important, and so on.

Now Nano Banana can leverage that info to make fun and beautiful things on your behalf.

Since you can already organize and label groups of people and pets in your library, those labels provide the context that Gemini needs to make your images feel truly yours…

With those labels in place, you can simply ask Gemini to “create a claymation image of me and my family enjoying our favorite activity” and Gemini can generate that specific image for you automatically. You can also experiment with different styles like watercolors, charcoal sketches or oil paintings. You can turn a quick idea into a custom creation, saving you the trouble of searching for, downloading and re-uploading files just to see a concept come to life.

Google Earth + Nano Banana? Go Go Godzilla!

3D, AI/ML, Nano Banana

I love this kind of simple, scrappy creativity,:

Here’s the Chrome extension:

  • Capture any Google Earth 3D view
  • Transform with AI (Nano Banana Pro) into cinematic shots
  • Generate videos (Veo 3.1) with customizable duration and audio

GenFill + Vividon = Magic

AI/ML, Photography, Relighting

It’s insane what we can do now—from object removal to lighting changes—that was simply out of the question even a year ago.

Check out this little progression of edits, starting with the newly enhanced Generative Fill in the Photoshop beta, followed by a couple of steps of Remove, followed by a pass with Vividon & a few tweaks in Camera Raw (running inside PS):

Nutty & I’m here for it. Per PetaPixel,

Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Marcus Kurn adds that the ability to deliver two or three lighting variations alongside every final image is a real differentiator: “once you start delivering two or three lighting variations with every final image, your clients will never want to go back.”

Vividon relighting comes to Photoshop

AI/ML, Relighting

“No prompting, no friction. Just incredible results.”

As I mentioned back in January, Vividon offers new generative relighting tech that promises amazing realism & identity preservation:

Vividon places every relight on its own Photoshop layer. Adjust opacity, change blend modes, paint in or out exactly what you want, or remove it entirely. Your original always stays untouched.

Check out a 10s demo below, and visit their site for a more interactive preview:

And here’s a full 2-minute tour:

“A vehicle that cares back”

AI/ML, Idle Philosophizing

“People will forget you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

I’ve reflected on this maxim countless times over the last couple of years, as I’ve considered the relationships I want with AI—particularly with notional creative partners. I want a partner who cares—who (which?) actually takes the time to get to know me, asking thoughtful questions, noodling on answers, and genuinely taking my feedback to heart.

I thought of this while listening to Stewart Brand talking to Ezra Klein the other day. Check out this poetic & provocative passage:

Well, it wound up that, basically, most of the book is Chapter 2, “Vehicles.” And the land vehicle that humans have used for 6,000 years is a horse, and the horse takes a lot of maintenance.

I’ll read something here from the book, if I may. There’s this philosopher named Albert Borgmann who wrote:

You cannot remain unmoved by the gentleness and conformation of a well-bred and well-trained horse — more than a thousand pounds of big-boned, well-muscled animal, slick of coat and sweet of smell, obedient and mannerly, and yet forever a menace with its innocent power and ineradicable inclination to seek refuge in flight, and always a burden with its need to be fed, wormed and shod, with its liability to cuts and infections, to laming and heaves. But when it greets you with a nicker, nuzzles your chest and regards you with a large and liquid eye, the question of where you want to be and what you want to do has been answered.

And I end with: “I wonder if that might come again someday — a vehicle that cares back.”

The scarily beautiful animation of Sincitium

AI/ML, Illustration

Side note: “Macrófago” is 100% the best word I’ve learned all week.

AI filmmaking turns a (creepy, fun) corner

AI/ML

This is the first time I can recall watching a genuine narrative (not a handful of gee-whiz demo shots) made with AI & not really caring about the production details. We’re turning the inevitable corner where it’s just the quality of ideas & narrative that’ll matter—not so much how the proverbial sausage was made.

See yourself from a new angle in Google Photos

3D, AI/ML, Google Photos, Photography

Get some fresh perspective from our amazing teammates in research:

Today we are announcing a new approach to fix scene alignment after a photo was taken. Our method, now available as part of the Auto frame feature in Google Photos, uses machine learning (ML) models to understand the scene and its spatial layout and uses generative AI to imagine the photo from that new perspective. In contrast to classical photo editing, our method interprets a photo as a 3D scene — think of a real moment frozen in time — and change the camera position automatically within that space.

How to get the most from Nano Banana

AI/ML, Nano Banana

My new teammates have posted a series of detailed tips & tech specs (e.g. you can upload as many as 14 images together with a prompt). Check it out!

1. Introduction to Nano Banana

  • The Models: Overview of Nano Banana 2 (powered by real-time web search) and Nano Banana Pro (built for high-end reasoning).
  • Core Strengths: Deep reasoning capabilities, accurate visual rendering, and premium features like text rendering and upscaling (2K/4K).

2. Technical Specs at a Glance

  • Context Windows: Up to 131,072 input tokens for Nano Banana 2.
  • Versatility: Supports multiple aspect ratios (from 1:1 to 21:9) and up to 14 reference images in a single prompt.
  • Safety: Built-in SynthID watermarking and C2PA credentials for responsible AI use.

3. Best Practices for Prompting

  • Be Specific: Focus on concrete details regarding subject, lighting, and composition.
  • Positive Framing: Describe what should be there (e.g., “empty street”) rather than what shouldn’t.
  • Director’s Perspective: Use cinematic terms like “low angle,” “bokeh,” or “aerial view.”

4. Five Powerful Prompting Frameworks

  • Image Generation: Using the [Subject] + [Action] + [Context] + [Style] formula.
  • Image Editing: Utilizing “Semantic Masking” to change specific parts of an image via text.
  • Real-Time Data: Leveraging web search to create visuals based on current events or weather.
  • Text Rendering: How to get legible, localized text in over 10 languages within your images.
  • Creative Direction: Advanced tips for controlling lighting (e.g., Chiaroscuro), camera hardware (e.g., GoPro vs. Fujifilm), and film stock.

5. The Creative Ecosystem

  • How to combine Nano Banana with other models like Gemini (for prompt engineering), Veo (for video keyframes), and Lyria (for AI soundtracks).

Photoshop, 3D, and redemption

3D, AI/ML

“Being early is the same as being wrong.” — Marc Andreessen, Vol. ~900

We put 3D into Photoshop nearly 20 years ago, and it got used by nearly 20 people total, lol. For many of the past several years, it was on the team’s “gotta throw overboard, as soon as we can find time” list—but happily that time was never found.

I am so glad to see this foundation now finding a meaningful niche, and I have high hopes for its generative future. Posing a person or thing directly is so much more intuitive than trying to precisely describe an outcome via prompt, and simple 3D manipulation + generative rendering could well deliver game-changing best of both worlds.

Canva’s new Magic Layers converter is really impressive

AI/ML, Design

As generative imaging models like Nano Banana get increasingly adept at rendering text-heavy layouts, the ability to convert those layouts into native text/image compositions is of course hugely valuable for editing. Check out Canva’s new Magic Layers feature:

I couldn’t resist trying it out with a silly infographic I made using the new ChatGPT image model, and dang if it didn’t do a pretty a great job:

“LooseRoPE” promises super intuitive illustration & compositing

AI/ML, Illustration

Man, it must be nearly 20 years ago that we started envisioning drag-and-drop-simple composition and compositing in Photoshop—back when gradient-domain painting & blending was the emerging hotness. After plenty of false starts, could these simple interaction patterns finally become mainstream? Maybe! I must know more of this witchcraft:

You can now verify Google AI-generated videos in the Gemini app

AI/ML

You can now check if a video was edited or created with Google AI directly in the Gemini app.

Just upload a video and ask something like, “Was this generated using Google AI?” Gemini will scan for the imperceptible SynthID watermark across both the audio and visual tracks and use its own reasoning to return a response that gives you context. For example, it might say: “SynthID detected within the audio between 10-20 secs. No SynthID detected in the visuals.”

Uploaded files can be up to 100 MB and 90 seconds long.

Scout with Maps, animate with Veo

AI/ML

Check out this super cool mashup between Google Maps & my new product, Veo (video generation):

The team writes,

With Maps Imagery Grounding, a film studio can use a laptop to quickly visualize a scene at a specific place, like Washington Square Park in New York City—before scouts ever set foot on set. It’s easy to use: just type a prompt like “generate an image of a futuristic spaceship hovering in front of the Washington Square Arch” into the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform and enable grounding with Google Maps Imagery in settings. In seconds, you can storyboard your creative vision with an accurate image—and you can even use Veo to animate the scene.

“AI will never suffer from bipolar disorder and autism like me”

AI/ML

Spending four minutes listening to Diplo’s thoughts on how art will be made going forward, and specifically on the value of quirky, messy, world-experiencing humans will be a good use of your time, I promise. The machine needs us ghosts.

“A rare look at how Hollywood is already using AI”

AI/ML

I’ve been sending this video to friends & family to explain what the heck it is I actually, y’know, do for a living. (It’s somehow related to enabling all this!)

Here’s a good summary from Gemini:

  • Digital Clones for A-listers (0:33–1:56): The Creative Artist Agency (CAA) is helping actors create and store secure digital doubles of their likeness and vocal inflections. This serves as a “vault” to protect their intellectual property and assert rights against unauthorized use.
  • Deep Voodoo’s AI Innovations (2:15–3:54): Founded by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park, this studio uses proprietary facial scanning and AI to perform tasks like real-time de-aging for projects like the TV series Before and Billy Joel‘s recent music video.
  • Production Efficiency and Ethics (6:03–7:40): Director Darren Aronofsky and filmmaker Eliza McNitt utilized Google’s Veo 3 model for the short film Ancestra. AI allowed them to create complex cosmic visuals and even recreate a newborn baby digitally to avoid the ethical concerns of filming with a real infant.
  • Commercially Safe AI Tools (8:00–9:10): Asteria Film Company, co-founded by Natasha Lyonne and Bin Moser, focuses on building “commercially safe” AI models trained strictly on licensed materials to avoid copyright infringement, emphasizing that learning to use AI is an essential skill for modern filmmakers.
  • The Human Element (4:48–5:13): Despite the rapid evolution of AI, industry unions like SAG-AFTRA emphasize that human performers bring a unique, special quality to projects that algorithms cannot replicate, advocating for guardrails to ensure AI serves as a tool for creators rather than a replacement.

Phota launches, promising maximum identity preservation

AI/ML, Nano Banana, Photography

Phota—about which I expressed some initial misgivings, given its ability to rewrite memories—has launched Phota Studio & their API. From what I can tell, it builds upon a Nano Banana foundation and adds personalization that relies on uploading dozens of images of each individual in order to maximize identity preservation:

With Phota, for the first time, you can generate, edit, and enhance photos while keeping your identity intact, every time.

We’re not building a generic foundation model. We build personal models about you, and about the people and pets around you. At the center are profiles, built from your personal album that learn the details of your appearance that make you recognizable as yourself: how you smile, your eye color, and how your face looks from different angles. Your personal model is private and only used by you.

Here’s a quick thread in which I tried inserting myself into a couple of images, using both Phota’s model (which depended on my uploading 30+ images of myself) and just Nano Banana straight out of the Gemini app:

FreePik enables 3D photo shoots

3D, AI/ML

I love seeing progress like this: upload a product pic, convert it to 3D, and photograph it on a virtual set:

Runway debuts Multi-Shot

AI/ML

Here’s a fun, ultra-simple way to turn an image (or just a prompt) into a short, multi-shot narrative:

Just for fun I fed it this image…

…and this prompt (based on an all-too-true story):

A family of Lego people and their dog gaze around Yosemite’s most iconic vista, then reminisce about that time they got stuck there in the snow in their VW van, expressing hope that they don’t get stuck again!

Check out the results:

I Love(art) to move it, move it…

AI/ML, User Interface

I’ve long quoted James Ratliff, the super sharp designer behind Adobe’s Project Graph (who’s recently decamped to Figma), in nicely phrasing how the process of generating & refining ideas generally starts broad/declarative (searching, prompting) and moves towards fine-grained methods (selecting, moving, etc.):

I see an increasing number of tool & model creators mixing modalities—even in the Gemini Super Bowl ad featuring a mom & daughter drawing a simple circle to show where they’d like to add a dog bed.

I’m eager to check out Lovart’s take on the possibilities, especially for animation:

Update: Here’s a look at the UI, in which you can move & scale the selection rectangle, as well as the before & after images:

Spline enables agentic 3D creation

3D, AI/ML

“3D scenes, websites, games, apps,” promises Spline. “Describe anything and Omma builds it for you in seconds.”

Omma combines code generation (LLMs), 3D AI mesh generation, and Image generation all in one place for you to build and ship. Deploy to production, assign custom domains, and more.

Sora is the new Peach

AI/ML

Ten years ago (!), the embryonic social app Peach suddenly blew up on the scene—only to molder shortly thereafter. Adam Lisagor tartly predicted that outcome right after Peach debuted:

I’m reminded of this upon hearing that OpenAI has bailed out on Sora, which they launched just a few months ago. In a way I’m not surprised—check out how interest in the tech spiked & then rapidly cratered—except that just a couple of months ago Disney signed a billion-dollar deal to use it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Luma UNI-1 promises layered creation

AI/ML

When can we get this (or equivalent) into Photoshop??

On a conceptually (though not necessarily technically) related note, the LICA dataset may help model makers train layered generation:

Photoshop drops Rotate Object!

3D, AI/ML

Speaking of spinning right ’round, check this out:

Check out another view, from Paul Trani:

Runway promises 100ms (!!) HD video generation

AI/ML

Five years ago, I spent an afternoon with a buddy watching Disco Diffusion resolve a weird, blurry, but ultimately delightful scene over the course of 15 minutes. Now Runway & NVIDIA are previewing generation that’s a mere ~90,000x faster than that. Ludicrous speed, go!!

Tips: Getting great text from Nano Banana

AI/ML, Nano Banana, Typography

Structuring your prompt well turns out to be key in avoiding garbled text. As the presenter says, “It’s not about writing more. It’s about writing in the right order.” Check out this brief overview.

In this tutorial, you’ll see how to use Nano Banana Pro and Kling 3.0 Omni together to solve one of the most common pain points in AI product video: text that blurs, warps, or drifts mid-motion. We’ll walk through a practical workflow for maintaining legibility and visual consistency in product shots, so your labels, logos, and copy stay clean from the first frame to the last.