- Sony has published an advertisement for the Xperia 1 VIII’s AI Camera Assistant tool
- However, all images using this feature look worse than the ‘before’ images
- It is unclear how this could have happened without Sony knowing
AI is a controversial tool, but even those who oppose the technology would probably admit that it has some utility. One such case is image enhancement, but Sony’s recent attempts to advertise artificial intelligence in this area have backfired.
You see, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII has just been launched with an ‘AI Camera Assistant’ tool which on paper sounds promising. It can suggest settings you might want to change, such as exposure, bokeh, and color, based on what you’re pointing the viewfinder at to get the best version of an image. Except, apparently, its suggestions are absolutely terrible.
The new AI Camera Assistant* with Xperia Intelligence brings stories to life. Using subject, scene and weather, it suggests expressive possibilities with color, exposure, bokeh and lens adjustments for stunning images*. #Xperia1VIII pic.twitter.com/1dsBeCNvhE14 May 2026
An accident or a deliberate game?
Even if the feature really is that bad, it’s bizarre that Sony would highlight its flaws like this, so there’s quite a bit of debate online about what’s going on. Nothing is CEO Carl Pei even weighed in and suggested “it must be engagement farming??” But if it is, it’s quite the gamble how terrible this makes the feature look.
Other answers have described the results as “terrible” and noted that “all the originals look better”, with one poster saying: “If this is intelligence, I’d prefer my phone to be stupid.” Another simply asks, “Is this satire?”
The response is almost universally negative, and it seems hard to believe that Sony didn’t realize that the adjusted images look worse. But it’s also hard to imagine that the company would intentionally post bad photos for engagement.
Maybe the before and after pictures were accidentally mislabeled, but the post has been up for a while now, so you’d think it would have been removed if that was the case.
We’ll be interested in giving the AI Camera Assistant feature a try for ourselves once we get our hands on the Sony Xperia 1 VIII, but for now, based on Sony’s own images, it looks like something you might want to steer well clear of.
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