Sony's AI Camera Assistant for Xperia 1 VIII draws backlash as promotional images look worse

Sony tries to explain that its AI Camera Assistant doesn't suck

After Sony drew some unwanted attention for a post demonstrating its AI Camera Assistant on the Xperia 1 XIII, it's trying to clarify how the feature works. The company says it doesn't edit photos, but makes suggestions based on lighting, depth, and subject. Point the camera at something, and it will give you four options for changing exposure, color, and background blur. In its product video, Sony says that the AI Camera Assistant will also suggest "the most photogenic angle." Though the clip only shows it suggesting that someone zoom in, which is not the same as suggesting a camera angle. The examples that Sony posted on X, while better than those it posted on May 14th, are still pretty terrible. They're not as washed out as the sandwich or as over-exposed as the portrait in the meadow. But each suggestion in the grid below has serious issues and looks worse than the original. Suggestion one is way too saturated, two is flat and over-processed, three makes it look like the food is Photoshopped into the frame, and the contrast in four is cranked way too high. If you're using an Xperia 1 XIII, your best bet is probably to ignore the AI Camera Assistant's suggestions for now.

Sony's viral Xperia 1 VIII AI blunder is painful to watch

It's hard to imagine how Sony's social media post about the new Xperia 1 VIII and its AI Camera Assistant could have gone worse. What at first looked like an error has been revealed to be an entirely serious way of attracting attention to the new Sony smartphone, and the awful truth is, it will probably be all anyone remembers about the phone, and do yet more damage to AI's already precarious role in photography. What was Sony thinking? Gaslighting, rage bait, or worse? Here's what's going on. Sony posted a message on its official X account showing a series of side-by-side photos, made up of original photos taken by the Xperia 1 VIII, and the same photo edited by its AI Camera Assistant feature. Nothing unusual about that, except it was immediately obvious the AI Camera Assistant photos were considerably worse than the originals. It's not even subjective, as anyone with eyes would recognize the AI's images exhibit many problems, from being over exposed and drained of color, to robbing them of life, depth, and realism. The downgrade was so noticeable, it was initially assumed someone had got the images round the wrong way, and the ones labeled "original" were actually the AI-enhanced ones. Others took it as rage bait, and that Sony was fishing for engagement. Sony clarified what was going on in a later post, but it wasn't the explanation anyone expected. Sony clarifies the situation Amazingly, it wasn't a mistake In Sony's follow-up message, it said the AI Camera Assistant doesn't edit photos, but suggests four different settings that take the scene in "different creative directions," and the photographer is free to choose the one that works. It means the images aren't a mistake, they're not mislabeled, and are indeed designed to promote the phone and AI feature. What's more, the images were not created solely for the social media post. All are also used on the Xperia 1 VIII's pre-order page on Sony's website. The original post has more than 13 million views on X at the time of writing, and the majority of the nearly 4,000 replies are negative, or making fun of the images using memes. Sony also posted the images on its official Xperia Instagram page, and it was met with the same reaction. Many wondered if the images had been accidentally swapped, and others questioned whether the post was a joke or not. Sony thinks this will sell the new Xperia It probably won't Sony announced the Xperia 1 VIII on May 14. The phone doesn't look like it will be released in the US (it abandoned the US with the Xperia 1 VI), but will be sold in the UK, where it costs £1,399, or around $1,870. It's more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, and the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max. It's already a hard sell, but it also has to compete with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and the Oppo Find X9 Ultra, two superb camera phones available for a similar price. Sony hasn't targeted the mass smartphone market for a while, and instead leaned into its camera expertise to attract buyers. After all, estimates put Sony's market share for smartphone image sensors at more than 50%, meaning a lot of manufacturers have faith in the brand's components and technology, so why shouldn't keen consumers? It makes it even more baffling that the company decided to promote the Xperia 1 VIII's camera -- its major selling point, remember -- using these awful images. It's not a casual social media error. The images and narrative are used across the board, and will therefore have gone through multiple stages of approval before assaulting our eyes. It's AI's fault Fear of being left behind So what happened? If the promotion was signed off at each stage, it means Sony wanted it out into the world. It can't be because of the images, and therefore has to be about the AI Camera Assistant feature. Every technology company, mobile or otherwise, is obsessed with AI, and a lot of them fear that by not investing or promoting it, they'll fall behind and be dismissed as stuck in the past. Whether it's Allbirds pivoting from shoes to AI, or Anthropic telling everyone its new AI is so powerful it could have a severe impact on the world, we're being shown and told AI is a big deal. Sony couldn't release the Xperia 1 VIII without any AI, and integrating an AI assistant into the camera is the only logical route for the brand. Unfortunately, in its haste to show the world its phone also has AI inside, it has failed to come up with a compelling use case for it, and simply made it a collection of AI filters no-one in their right mind will want to use. Even its AI Camera Assistant promotional video doesn't really sell the feature. We can see there are some uninspired filters for a portrait photo, before the protagonist settles on one with a heavily blurred background. Is it better than the original? Not really. Is it any different to the features we see on other phones? Not really. Subscribe to the newsletter for clear tech takes After the Xperia AI camera controversy, subscribe to the newsletter for clear, impartial analysis of AI in consumer cameras and how marketing missteps shape product reputations. The newsletter translates these episodes into practical understanding across tech. Get Updates By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. But Sony has got the message across that it has an AI feature in the camera on the new Xperia 1 VIII, and that's almost certainly the intention behind all this. Why it's a serious problem It's going to define the phone Uninspired AI features are nothing new, and many mobile fans will be used to being told they're far more innovative and useful than they really are. See Samsung's Now Brief for proof, something which even Samsung has focused less on since it was pushed as the big feature in the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Samsung can get away with it, but I don't think Sony can. The Xperia 1 VIII may be a fantastic phone, and the camera may also be really good, but the decision to market it using the AI Camera Assistant may end up defining the phone before it's even released. Will any serious mobile camera fanatic want to try the Xperia 1 VIII out when Sony decides the best thing about it is a dodgy AI feature? Probably not, and when 13 million people have seen and laughed at a social media post about the phone, they're hardly likely to buy it and discover if it's really that bad for themselves. Time will tell, but Sony has got some serious damage control to do if it wants to fix the Xperia 1 VIII's reputation, and other brands would be wise to think twice about marketing cameras using AI features in the future. Wishful thinking, I know.

Sony's awful 'AI Camera Assistant' for Xperia is the final boss of the worst camera trend [Gallery]

Yes, Sony actually seems to think that image you're seeing above looks better after running through an "AI Camera Assistant." In promoting its new Xperia 1 VIII, Sony is rightfully seeing backlash around the output of these new AI changes - and I can't help but think about how this is just the worst possible form of the problem facing so many modern smartphone cameras. AI is in everything now, but "machine learning" - essentially AI before it became a buzzword - is what unlocked the magic of computational photography years ago. It took the smartphone camera sensor which, by the laws of physics, couldn't be perfect, and made it a whole lot better. But, now that the focus is on throwing more AI at every problem, the cameras in our pockets are continuing to evolve. Cut to Sony, which has introduced the "AI Camera Assistant" in its new Xperia flagship. Sony explains: The new AI Camera Assistant with Xperia Intelligence helps you bring your vision to life. It suggests various expressive options with different adjustments to create memorable photos. Combined with a new Telephoto camera sensor that's nearly 4 times larger than before, every photo will make a memory you'll want to keep and share. In examples shared by Sony, everything is drastically brighter with less color and contrast throughout. Rightfully so, Sony is being almost universally criticized for the implementation on social media. While this is a particularly bad example - to the point where one really has to ask if Sony switched the shots - it follows the trend of what we've been seeing in a lot of smartphone cameras over the past few years. Oversharpened photos that are brighter and have everything in the shot at the same level of brightness are everywhere, on purpose, and this just feels like the "final boss" of that movement. Sony is actively crushing detail, changing colors, and ruining the shot here. Just this week, Google showed off a new "Smart enhance" tool coming to the Instagram Edits app on Android and, lo and behold, it's the same problem yet again - an image where all of the shadows are brightened to match the subject for a flat and frankly boring picture. It's sharper and more eye-catching, sure, but it's also worse the longer you look at it. Objectively, Google's new tool with Instagram isn't nearly as bad as what Sony is showing off here, but it's another example of the same camera trend. We've talked specifically about how Google Pixel has fallen into a far lesser version of this in recent years, with the contrast-y look of past models having disappeared in recent years for these flatter and less vibrant images. The Pixel camera is still consistent, it's still good, but having recently spent time with the Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Motorola Razr Fold, two phones that make very clear choices in how photos look, I'm once again reminded about how Google has been pushing this same problem that Sony is leaning into - again, Sony is pushing this far to the extreme, to the point of embarassment.

Sony Xperia AI Camera Assistant Ads Are Getting Ripped Apart

Sony unveiled the Xperia VIII smartphone this week, boasting photographer-focused upgrades and improvements. American buyers, who are yet again missing out on the latest Xperia, may have felt a little left out. Looking at the phone's new AI Camera Assistant with Xperia Intelligence and its terrible results, perhaps U.S. buyers aren't missing out on much at all. "The power is in your hands. Using our experience in innovative product development and compelling content creation, we bring Xperia Intelligence, Powered by Alpha, WALKMAN, and BRAVIA to enhance the experience of shooting, listening, and viewing with the Xperia 1 VIII, in real time," Sony says. Sony's own examples, readily shared on its website and social media, are attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. The AI looks heinous, at least as Sony has elected to share it. "The new AI Camera Assistant with Xperia Intelligence helps you bring your vision to life. It suggests various expressive options with different adjustments to create memorable photos. Combined with a new Telephoto camera sensor that's nearly 4 times larger than before, every photo will make a memory you'll want to keep and share," Sony claims. Based on the examples Sony and others have shared, AI Camera Assistant is not creating memories I would want to keep, and certainly none I would want to share. It looks less like an assistant and more like a saboteur. Let's consider this first one, an outdoor daytime portrait. The original isn't bad, it's perhaps a tad dark. But the AI Camera Assistant's approach to this and other situations is to ramp the brightness to absurd levels, increase contrast, butcher color, and make everything crunchy and gross. The next example, an indoor shot of a flower, suffers from similar issues. The contrast is way too high. The original photo actually looks really good, with nice, natural dynamic range, pleasing color, and a decent, albeit slightly cluttered background. The AI Camera Assistant says goodbye to some background elements, adds more "bokeh," and, again, ratchets the contrast to 11. Look at the nuts to the right of the flower in the vase. The detail that was in the original shot is practically gone, rendered into inky black shadows. The final example is arguably the worst. It's so bad that I cannot genuinely believe it made it onto Sony's Xperia VIII product page. The original photo of a sandwich looks perfectly fine. It has nice colors, good contrast, an accurate exposure, and the sandwich looks tasty. It's better than most food photos I take with my phone. But then the AI Camera Assistant got involved, robbing the photo of its life. It's too bright, and unlike the other two examples, now there's barely any contrast at all. It's flat, and it looks like the lens was fogged up. It's awful. "I know that it is subjective, but no one in their right mind would ever think that the photo on the right looks better," writes Alvin (@sondesix) on X, formerly known as Twitter. 100% agreed, Alvin. Famous tech YouTuber and creator Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD, joined the conversation as well with a "Simpsons" meme. Good choice, Marques. Apparently, no. Insider Sony, a Sony-focused X account that may admittedly have a bit of bias, shared examples of it working reasonably well. AI Camera Assistant provides direct user control over different parameters. Mobile photographers can adjust the intensity of brightness, warmth, tint, and contrast. It sure looks like Sony's marketing team went way overboard with all of these settings. Insider Sony says that the feature does work, and that "the management team messed up the marketing images." The Verge's Dominic Preston agrees, at least a little, saying that there were better results shown in his briefing with Sony. Whether the AI Camera Assistant with Xperia Intelligence is actually good remains an open question, but there's no doubt that Sony has thus far very poorly showcased it in its Xperia VIII marketing materials. It cannot be as bad in practice as it looks in Sony's marketing. Right? Right?! "I'm about to have a generational crashout," friend of PetaPixel David Imel wrote on X in response to the photos Sony Xperia shared. Who among us hasn't gone way overboard with editing sliders at some point? We just aren't usually doing promotional work for one of the largest tech companies on the planet.

'This must be engagement farming': Nothing CEO pokes fun at Sony for 'awful' Xperia 1 VIII social post showing its AI Camera Assistant tool making photos look worse

* Sony has posted an advert for the Xperia 1 VIII's AI Camera Assistant tool * But all the images using this feature look worse than the 'before' shots * It's unclear how this could have happened without Sony realizing AI is a controversial tool, but even those against the technology would probably admit that it has some utility. One such use case is to improve photos, but Sony's recent attempt to advertise AI's skills in this area has very much backfired. You see, the Sony Xperia 1 VIII has just launched with an 'AI Camera Assistant' tool, which, on paper, sounds promising. It can make suggestions about settings you might want to change, such as exposure, bokeh, and color, based on what you're pointing the viewfinder at, in order to get the best version of a photo. Except, its suggestions are seemingly absolutely terrible. In a post on X, the official Sony Xperia account has shown some before and after photos aimed at advertising the capabilities of this tool, but the improved shots basically just seem to be overexposed to ludicrous levels, washing out colors and details, and leaving the photos looking pale and unnatural. An accident or an intentional gamble? Even if the feature really is this bad, it's bizarre that Sony would highlight its failings like this, so there's some debate online about what's going on. Nothing's CEO Carl Pei even weighed in, suggesting "this must be engagement farming??" But if it is, it's quite the gamble given just how terrible this makes the feature look. Other replies have described the results as "awful" and noted that "all the originals look better", with one poster saying, "If this is intelligence, I'd prefer my phone dumb." Another simply asks, "Is this satire?" The response is almost universally negative, and it seems hard to believe that Sony didn't realize the adjusted photos look worse. But it's also hard to imagine the company would intentionally post bad images for engagement. Perhaps, then, the before and after shots have accidentally been mislabeled, but the post has been up for quite a while now, so you'd think it would have been taken down if that was the case. We'll be interested to give the AI Camera Assistant feature a try for ourselves when 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. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

Sony wants you to know the new Xperia phone's AI camera is not that bad

Sony's AI camera assistant is under fire, and its defense isn't exactly convincing. Sony's Xperia smartphones are known for their camera quality. They feature incredible lenses paired with advanced in-camera controls, allowing users to capture the best photos possible. So when the company's official handle posted some before-and-after photos captured with its AI camera assistant, everyone was shocked, to say the least. Not only did the company foray into AI slop, but the images it shared were abysmal. Now, Sony has come out in defense of its AI Camera Assistant, and I am not convinced. So what is the AI Camera Assistant doing? In response to the backlash, Sony clarified that the AI Camera Assistant does not edit photos after you take them. Instead, it analyzes the scene, brightness, subject, distance, and background before you shoot, then suggests four different settings for you to choose from. You can pick your favorite, and it will apply those settings to the captured photos. It can also suggest the best framing for the photo, which is a nice feature. All that sounds reasonable on paper. The problem is that the samples Sony shared to promote this feature told a very different story. We already saw the disastrous images Sony shared last time. Even in the new post, the company shared to clarify its AI camera feature, the options provided by AI don't look much better than the original. Did Sony forget its own camera heritage? This is what stings the most. People who buy Sony Xperia smartphones do so because they love Sony's color science and the manual control the phone offers. If they wanted heavily processed images, they would pick Apple, Google, or Samsung, brands that offer far more features than Sony does anyway. Recommended Videos The Xperia has always been the camera purist's phone. That was its identity. By leaning into AI-assisted photography that produces subpar results, it feels as if Sony is abandoning that identity. To be fair, the Xperia 1 VIII's cameras are genuinely better than previous generations and are capable of capturing incredible images. The hardware is not the problem. The problem is that Sony has shifted its messaging from what it does best, celebrating raw camera capability, to chasing the AI hype train. That does not do the phone any favors.

Sony shows off AI-touched Xperia 1 VIII camera samples. It's an epic self-own that I can't digest

Sony built the Xperia 1 series for people who know what a histogram looks like. Xperia Intelligence appears to have been built for everyone else, and the sample images make that tension impossible to ignore. Sony has a camera legacy that most brands, regardless of whether they make cameras or smartphones, dream of. The company rewrote what full-frame sensors could do with its Alpha series. That particular rendering of skin tones, that restraint with saturation, the commitment to accurate white balance; the company's color science is precisely why cinematographers, videographers, and photographers like me, in the consumer tech space, swear by its color science and camera hardware. Recommended Videos So when the official Sony Xperia X account posted "Origin vs. AI Camera Assistant" side-by-side comparisons, particularly to promote the Xperia Intelligence on the company's new Xperia 1 VIII, I kept staring at my screen for minutes. Not in admiration, but in genuine disbelief. I'd say this bluntly: whoever approved those samples has either never used a Sony Alpha series camera, or never spoken to someone who does. What exactly is Sony's Xperia Intelligence actually doing to these images? Let me walk you through this in technical terms, because what's happening in those pictures deserves a discussion. In the first portrait shot, Sony's Xperia Intelligence has boosted mid-tone exposure so aggressively that it has clipped the highlights across the grass and the subject's face. The details are blown away, while the dynamic range is all messed up. Similarly, in the shot with the vase, the new AI-based algorithm has crushed the shadows so hard that the floor loses all its texture. While the original picture has some depth and visible wood grain, the edited one looks like it has a flat, high-contrast filter applied, with the intensity slider dragged all the way up. Then there's the sandwich. I genuinely can't figure out what Sony's AI saw when it decided those reds and greens needed to be desaturated. Seriously, it looks like someone tuned up the exposure and brightness sliders on the picture, without realizing that they're blowing up the finer details and the colors. Across all three samples, the AI introduces a forced yellow-orange warmth, in different intensities, an artificial white-balance shift that moves every shot away from neutral or natural colors toward what looks like an Instagram or Snapchat filter. They all looked like they were captured from a sensor pushed way past its native ISO ceiling, with plenty of noise. I'd say that all the pictures looked better the way they were, but Sony's AI Camera Assistant or Xperia Intelligence fixed them in a way that's beyond any post-production repairs. And mind you, the pictures have been posted to promote the exceptional photography results that buyers can achieve with the new Xperia 1 VIII. Sony can't afford an identity crisis The Xperia 1 series has always been Sony's answer to the question: what if a smartphone camera behaved like the one on a camera? However, what Xperia Intelligence appears to be doing is chasing the aggressively and unnecessarily processed, high-vibrance aesthetic, that, I'd say, looks worse than what a Samsung, Google, or Apple smartphone would have processed. While the originals in the tweet are genuinely well-exposed, have natural-looking colors, and a decent amount of dynamic range, the AI versions look like the Xperia's camera got bored with being too good. For those who are buying the Xperia 1 VIII for its camera, and that's almost certainly the reason why they would, get comfortable with the settings menu early; that's all I have to say.