Pinterest updates visual search with additional AI-powered features

Pinterest boosts visual search with AI for better image-based queries.

: Pinterest has enhanced its visual search capabilities with new AI-powered features aimed at refining image-based searches. The upgrades include tools that improve the ability to search for an image instead of text and make the visual search feature more accessible. Notably, Pinterest now uses Visual Language Models, a type of generative AI, to help understand why users like certain images, especially in the women's fashion category across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. These improvements are expected to make Pinterest stand out as a unique search engine catering to aesthetics and styles users struggle to describe in words.

Pinterest has recently rolled out a series of upgrades to its visual search functionality, emphasizing the use of artificial intelligence to refine and narrow image-based searches. These enhancements are designed to assist users in discovering images effortlessly, even when those images represent concepts or styles difficult to articulate with verbal descriptions. The company's latest offering allows users to initiate a search using an image rather than text, integrating newly developed tools to make searches more precise and accessible across Pinterest's platform.

One of the standout features of this upgrade involves the application of Visual Language Models (VLMs), a form of generative AI, to understand and articulate why users may be drawn to a particular image. This feature is currently targeted at the women's fashion category in regions like the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. When users engage with a Pin, they will notice an animated glow, helping them visually discern aspects they find appealing, while Pinterest generates descriptive words that capture these nuances.

Additionally, Pinterest's innovation mirrors approaches similar to Google's multimodal search technique, which merges images and text into coherent search queries. By offering its users the tools to see alternatives in different styles, colors, or textures, Pinterest encourages a broader exploration of fashion and aesthetics. For example, one could find similar styles embodying the 'Y2K' aesthetic or search for a formal counterpart to a casual blazer they're interested in.

Complementing these AI-driven enhancements, Pinterest has announced a broader application of visual search capabilities throughout their platform. Users will soon be able to launch visual searches simply by long-pressing any Pin on their Home Feed. This aim is part of a larger strategy to reestablish Pinterest as a leading visual shopping tool, integrating AI enhancements that poster the platform's usability without overwhelming it with AI-generated content.

This announcement follows previous updates, where Pinterest assured it would clearly label AI-generated images and provide users with controls to filter the volume of such content. These new developments aim to address user concerns about AI flooding Pinterest, thereby maintaining its authentic appeal as an inspiring and immersive digital space.

Sources: Pinterest, TechCrunch

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