Google is set to shake up the smartphone market in the coming weeks with the unveiling of four Pixel 9 devices at its Made by Google event on August 13.

In addition to the regular model, the Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold are expected to appear; according to two leaked promo videos shared by Android Headlines and OnLeaks (here and here), the four devices all appear to be unified by relying on AI for a major selling point.

The video has, unsurprisingly, been removed from Google-owned YouTube, but the screenshots capture the main points for posterity.

Both teasers begin with Ask Gemini and Pixel Screenshots, with Gemini showing a recipe being created based on a photo of what is in the user's refrigerator, and Pixel Screenshots showing a screenshot snapped in the past that Pixel Screenshots is demonstrated searching and recalling information from previously snapped screenshots.

However, the main AI enhancements relate to the camera, rather than to editing content captured with it; Magic Editor appears to have added two new major party tricks.

The first of these, through the “Reimagine with” prompt, allows users to change something about a photo using a generative AI prompt. In the clip, the phrase “dramatic sunset” is added, and a photo of two friends posing on the beach in slightly murky weather is magically transformed with three different options, making the scene look significantly more enchanting than it actually is.

Next up is a feature called “Add Me,” which appears to be an evolution of the previous generation's “Best Take.” While that feature allowed users to extract a face from a series of photos and stitch together a perfect image, “Add Me” goes a step further and allows the photographer to participate in a scene in which he or she is not actually present.

While the results look impressive (although one should be skeptical that such results could be achieved in the real world until one tries it out), they raise serious questions about authenticity. If it is so easy to make such radical changes, can we ever again trust that the photos we see on social media are authentic?

As our Managing Editor Philip Michaels wrote when the Magic Editor was first introduced last year: “Any time you can move a subject in a photo without anyone noticing, you are tinkering with reality in ways that should ring alarm bells.

Sure, there's nothing a skilled photoshopper can't do, but by lowering the skills required to the point where anyone can edit photos at will, it could turn a niche pastime into a mainstream one. That's the concern with Magic Editor. It simplifies photo editing for everyone, not just those who intend to use it for benign purposes.”

Moving away from AI, there are two more notable things from the now-deleted teaser video: first, the Pixel 9 is labeled as having a “durable design,” suggesting that it may be less susceptible to shocks and drops than previous models; second, the advertisement claims that the ” 7 years of Pixel Drops,” suggesting that Google's long-term commitment to software updates, first introduced with the Pixel 8, will endure for another generation.

The full Pixel 9 family should be revealed very soon indeed. Google has scheduled a surprise event for August 13 and teased the phone this week. It will be a real surprise if it is not announced along with the Pixel Watch 3 just 17 days later.