Sony’s AI Camera Assistant is exactly as bad as it looks

Sony's new AI Camera Assistant is a feature embedded in the default camera app that automatically suggests photo adjustments before you take a shot, showing alternate settings in a small box in the viewfinder. The assistant primarily applies basic adjustments to exposure, white balance, contrast, and saturation, along with occasional artificial bokeh effects, resembling Instagram filters more than intelligent photography guidance. The feature performs poorly in practice, generating few photos worth keeping or sharing, and its real-time processing adds performance strain to the phone, causing the camera app to open slowly and freeze when switching lenses or accessing suggestions. Unlike other AI photography tools from competitors that edit or manipulate photos after they're taken, Sony's assistant only applies preset-style filters to scenes, raising questions about its usefulness rather than ethical concerns about photo authenticity.