I recently came across an interesting discussion about strange things happening in Google Photos: children in makeup like oil paintings or hand drawings, etc. People suggested that it was most likely an AI filter. No an AI-generated image, but that made me think about what Google is in fact doing with our photos.
Am not the only one who has been feeling weird about all the automatic AI manipulation that happens in Google Photos. So, I investigated if it was happening to me and what could be done to prevent it. as for this to happen in the future. What I found was not exactly what I expected.
People think Google is sending their photos to AI
But I couldn’t find any evidence in my account.
It is clear that many people I feel like Google is aggressively pushing Gemini to the point of forcing them to flee to other search engines. My experiences with it range from completely useless to just strange. I understand what they are trying to do with it, but nothing I have seen or experienced so far has convinced me that this is the future.
With Gemini’s aggressive drive come many other concerns, but privacy is the most important. When I read about this, I immediately checked my Google accounts to see if my data was also being used for training.
After reading the discussion I mentioned above and a dozen more articles on the exact same topic, I became increasingly concerned that my photos were being used to train AI. I had been using Google Photos for years before the release of the big AI generation. Google has pictures of my cats (and my wife too). I don’t want them to be used to train Geminis, only to then use them as inspiration for so-called “AI art”.
But here’s the interesting thing I found, personally, about Google AI Photos: I looked in my settings and it turns out it was never turned on, it doesn’t even show up in Photos as a possibility on any of my phones (a Motorola Moto G and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5). So I dug a little deeper.
The feature discussed in the thread was Google Photos’ “gallery-worthy” memories. You can turn it off at Settings > Preferences > Memories. From there, you can go further by turning off notifications and choosing Types of memory. Here you can turn off both. based on time and Thematic memories.
But at the bottom, there is another little option called Creations. Navigate there and turn everything off. That should eliminate any lingering “gallery-worthy” weirdness that appears with photos within the Google Photos app.
I couldn’t find where it was on. It is very likely that I turned it off without realizing it. I went through a period in 2025, where I started deleting all the accounts I wasn’t using. Part of that included Gemini and old Google accounts.
Although I don’t remember doing it, I may have closed everything AI related in my Google account. That’s why I didn’t notice any difference until I started experimenting with Gemini this year.
Google says it does not train AI on your photos
Exploring the “out of Google Photos” loophole
According to a Forbes Report December 2025Google claims it is No using user photo albums to train their AI. On December 23, 2025, Proton posted in X:
When you know the only reason Google’s AI is the best at generating images because it scans every Android user’s Google Photos albums, but they don’t support it and you can’t test it.
This set off a chain reaction of people wondering: does Does Google use our photos to train AI? Google says, “No we don’t; honest.” They even posted it on a featured answers page:
So let’s look at that. Google explicitly states that they do not train outside from Google Photos. So that could mean that they will use absolutely anything you move from Google Photos to somewhere else in their ecosystem for AI training. I’m not a lawyer, but… I am definitely distrust that particular wording. It could also mean that they are using your photos to train Google Photos’ internal AI.
If you move that photo Gmail, Drive or Keepis subject to the rules of that particular application governing use for AI training. If you connect Photos to your smart home display or some other third-party app, their warning also tells you that since you databridged, they are not responsible for what happens to the data that passes to it (in this case, your photos).
Google says they use AI to “personalize” your Google Photos.
Last year, Google made a big effort to change your privacy settings for Gemini on September 2, 2025. The privacy change allowed Google to use everything you said, did, requested, or uploaded to your Gemini to use for training purposes. They added a toggle called Maintain activity within Gemini (not to be confused with the Google Keep app). So keep Keep that in mind when you save/sync something on Google, thinking that it is private.
Opting out is essential
Take control of your images, consent and privacy
I firmly believe that users should have the option to opt forto something instead of needing to find a way to unsubscribe because something is activated by default. While it appears that some features followed that path (its new Personal Intelligence service It’s completely optional.). Based on the description in the original Reddit thread, it seems like this might have been what they were experiencing.
So to nip it in the bud right now, you can go to gemini.google.comclick Activity in the settings. Once there, click on the button labeled In button and select Deactivate and delete activity (2 steps). A warning will then appear. Select I understand, and that’s it.
Gemini, of course, chimed in on the topic:
It looks like Google Photos’ AI features aren’t invading privacy like you might think. What he’s doing seems like something much, much worse.
Just because my accounts weren’t affected doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Google seems to be Adamant about not using our data to train your AI without consent.but reality and Internet stories tell a very different story.
I wonder how many accounts were affected? And what new services are going to appear to further absorb all our data for training? Newspeak in the way they communicate. It may fool some people, but the best thing you can do is be careful, find a way to opt out, think critically, and always examine your sources.
- Cloud storage
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15GB
- Mac Compatibility
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Yeah
