https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/14/17120996/google-pixel-phone-portrait-mode-ai-image-segmentation-open-source

Google’s Pixel phone has one hell of a camera, and one of the reasons for this is AI. Google has used its machine learning talent to squeeze better shots and shooting modes out of a tiny smartphone lens. And now, the company is open-sourcing one of these AI tools — a piece of software that underpins the Pixel’s portrait mode.

As announced in a blog post earlier this week, Google has open-sourced a lump of code name DeepLab-v3+. This is an image segmentation tool built using convolutional neural networks, or CNNs: a machine learning method that’s particularly good at analyzing visual data. Image segmentation analyzes objects within a picture, and splits them apart; dividing foreground elements from background elements.