Day 11: Asking questions with a photo — LearnAI

Today's idea

Does AI only understand written text, or can it understand a picture too? (tap to see)

It can understand pictures too. Show AI a photo and it works out what is in it, then answers your question, whether it's a paper, a form or any object.

Take a photo of a paper with your phone camera, and AI looks at it and explains it in plain words

Say you find something at the market or at home that you don't recognize, or you can't make sense of the writing on a packet. Wouldn't it be great to have someone beside you who could glance at it and tell you what it is? Showing AI a photo does exactly that.

These days AI doesn't just read text. It can "see" pictures too. Open an AI app on your phone, tap the add-photo icon, take a picture or pick one from your gallery, and type your question with it. That's all. Take a photo of your electricity bill and ask why the amount is so high. If a doctor's handwriting is hard to read, photograph the prescription and ask what the medicine names are. Send a photo of a form and find out what goes in which box. See an unfamiliar product in a shop? Photograph the label and ask what it is and how it's used.

This helps most when something is hard to explain in words, but one picture makes it clear at once.

Try it yourself Time: 3 minutes

1.Open the Gemini or ChatGPT app.
2.Tap the add-photo icon, then take or pick a photo of a paper, a form or an object you have nearby. Before taking the photo, cover your name, address and ID, account or meter numbers with a finger or a piece of paper. Or crop the photo so only the part you need is left.
3.Type a question with the photo, like this:

Please explain in simple words what is in this picture.
4.Read the answer, and if any part isn't clear, ask for a bit more detail.

Do it together Time: 5 minutes

With anyone — a child, a parent, a friend or a colleague.

Together with the person you're doing this with, find something at home, or a paper, that you truly have a question about. Show AI a photo of it and ask:

Replace each part inside square brackets [ ] with your own details.

Please look at this photo and tell me what it is. Also, [write your specific question here].

Talk it over together: how useful was the answer?

We did this together

Today's key point

Show AI a photo, and many situations that are hard to put into words can be explained easily.

Check yourself

Two quick questions from today's lesson.

1. What can you do by showing AI a photo?

Correct answer: Understand what is in the photo and answer your question — AI can understand what is in a picture and answer your question based on that.

2. What's the most useful way to ask questions with a photo?

Correct answer: Taking a photo of a form or paper and understanding what it says — Taking a photo of a form, a bill or any paper and understanding what it says is the most practical use of photo questions.