This New Google Photos Feature Will Turn Your Selfies Into Memes.
Memes can be funny. But when a major corporation gets involved, the fun usually ends.
As Android Authority noted , Google is currently working on a new feature for Google Photos called “Me Meme,” though Android Authority believes it may be called “Meme Me” once released. The feature is simple: using artificial intelligence (sigh), you can turn your photos or photos of family members into “your favorite memes.” Cool.
Here’s how it works: you choose a “meme template” and add a photo (of yourself, a friend, or a family member). You’ll reportedly need to back up the photo to Google Photos before using it. While it’s not a requirement, the feature recommends using a selfie in which your face is clearly visible. This makes sense: if an AI is going to insert your image into a meme, it needs an accurate representation of what you look like. Otherwise, you’ll just end up creating a meme with some stranger’s face.
Currently, the only meme Me Meme promotes is ” This Is Fine,” a meme from K.C. Green’s comic about a dog sitting in a burning room. Android Authority was unable to launch this feature, but they did provide promotional images showing a sample selfie and the final result. Importantly, the “Me Meme” menu also includes an image of a person doing a dapper. Again—and I can’t stress this enough—it’s awesome.
Even with Google’s “official” meme generation, I’m not sure I’d be able to tell if an AI-generated image is based on a reference selfie. If AI can’t truly capture a person’s likeness, the Me Meme would lose all its appeal. Why would anyone send an AI-generated version of a meme featuring some random character? Although, given this, one might wonder why anyone would send an AI-generated meme of themselves at all?
Perhaps this will be Google’s Bitmoji moment. Perhaps the feature will never arrive. Either way, the age of artificial intelligence is certainly exciting, if not all that exciting.