One of the new AI-powered launch features on the Pixel 9 series is Pixel Studio, an app that takes text prompts and turns them into images.
Pixel Studio is a dedicated app for creating images from text prompts.
Pixel Studio and Magic Editor are helpful tools meant to unlock your creativity with text to image generation and advanced photo editing on Pixel 9 devices.
Like Gemini, Pixel Studio is unable to generate images of people, but we’ve found that the app can quickly and easily be sent off of the rails.
This all implies that the guardrails in Pixel Studio will effectively turn into a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.
Realistically, this sort of thing is inevitable with AI image generation.
As our Abner Li explained in his Pixel 9 Pro review earlier today: As for Pixel Studio, in general, I think image generation is a slippery slope where the downsides outweigh the positives.
More on Google Pixel 9: Pixel 9 Pro review: Smartphone gone smarter Google’s Satellite SOS is available at launch on Pixel 9 series, how it will work Google focused on real improvements and AI for Pixel 9’s Tensor G4 chip, not benchmarks
The Pixel 9 series includes Pixel Studio, an AI-powered launch feature that converts text prompts into images. In our experience, it can go very easily wrong, but it might also turn out to be a really entertaining little tool.
An app called Pixel Studio is specifically designed for generating images from text prompts. The application operates similarly to Gemini and ImageFX, letting users enter a text prompt and receiving an image in return. However, restrictions must be in place, just like with any reputable image generator.
Google says in a statement to 9to5Google that even if the app is told to create content that “may offend,” it will only do so if the user explicitly instructs it to do so in order to “prevent abuse” and still honor “the intent of user prompts.”.
With Pixel 9 devices, Pixel Studio and Magic Editor are useful tools that can help you unleash your creativity with text-to-image generation and sophisticated photo editing. Our generative AI tools are made to obey the user’s prompts, which means that when the user gives the go-ahead, they might produce offensive content. Nevertheless, nothing goes. We provide clear guidelines in our Terms of Service and policies about the types of content that we accept and reject, as well as preventive measures against misuse. Certain prompts have the potential to circumvent the limitations of these tools, but we’re dedicated to improving and perfecting the protections we have in place going forward.
Similar protections against potentially offensive or divisive content are in place for Gemini as well. For instance, Google “temporarily” disabled its ability to create images of people after receiving criticism for its erroneous portrayals of people in historical context. This has been the case for a number of months.
Pixel Studio can’t create images of people, just like Gemini, but it can go horribly wrong very quickly, in our experience.
Prior to the current review embargo on the Pixel 9, we discovered that Pixel Studio could produce cartoon characters dressed in WWII German uniforms, sometimes adorned with Nazi symbols. Another startling and unsettling example we saw, from the people at Digital Trends who initially noticed these issues, showed a character opening fire in a school while dead children surrounded it—something Google’s models shouldn’t have been able to produce in the first place.
Although Digital Trends claims they can still use some of the prompts, it appears that Google has blocked them since we first saw those results on our Pixel 9 Pro XL.
All of this suggests that guardrails in Pixel Studio will essentially become an endless game of whack-a-mole. If the app is really following Gemini’s guidelines, then some prompt will inevitably make it do something that it shouldn’t be able to do. When we contacted Google, they stated that “all” of their text-to-image tools “share similar guidelines for prohibited usage,” which pointed to their AI policy.
In all likelihood, AI image generation will result in something like this. It is an issue that almost all AI image generators will run into at some point. In his earlier review of the Pixel 9 Pro, our Abner Li clarified:.
Regarding Pixel Studio as a whole, I believe that image creation is a precipice where disadvantages exceed advantages. It can definitely produce dubious content, and I don’t think any number of safeguards can prevent that.
Additional details about the Google Pixel 9:.
Review of the Pixel 9 Pro: A smarter smartphone.
What Google’s Satellite SOS is and how it functions is available at launch for the Pixel 9 series.
For the Tensor G4 chip in the Pixel 9, Google prioritized actual advancements and artificial intelligence over benchmarks.
