Adobe has been investing in generative AI tech for creative work for years, and now researchers have started using AI models to enable small, precise edits — the very opposite of an AI hallucination, if you will.
These are three of the projects that will be presented at Adobe Max during its Sneaks session on Wednesday. You can follow along with CNET’s live updates, but this is your exclusive sneak peek.
Project Deep Brush for context-aware painting
Project Deep Brush, developed by senior something (change their hairstyle or jacket, for example), and the AI will identify the character in every shot and apply the change consistently across the entire timeline. And you can make multiple edits.
Hyeonho Jeong, a research engineer presenting the project, told me the narrative of a piece. Instead, it’s meant to help editors make use of the content they have and avoid costly reshoots.
Big picture: The future of Adobe research
The throughline across all three of these projects is using AI for precise edits. Generative AI, as a whole, isn’t always the most precise tool — that’s how we end up with things like hallucinations and seven-fingered people in AI images. But new advancements in the tech over the past year, evident in these projects, have helped bring that level of control and precision to creators.
The goal is to create tech that understands the user’s intent, said Hailin Jin, senior principal scientist who oversees image and design research. “This is not just only about getting the best or most interesting adjustments to a particular image,” Jin said. “It’s about streamlining the entire process so that users don’t have to be working on repetitive things… so users can focus on the creative part.”
There’s no guarantee any of the Sneaks projects will be released to the public, though two of these, Deep Brush and Hands-On, are getting an initial public release this week on the relaunched Adobe Labs website. The Adobe Labs playground space will grant early access to select research previews going forward.
According to Gautham Mysore, senior principal scientist overseeing video and audio research, the goal is finding new ways to blend science and art.
“Building out new technical methodology, the science and the art together,” said Mysore. “That’s the path we’re gonna go.”
