I tried Photoshop's new Distraction Removal AI tool, with mixed results

A slew of new AI tools for Photoshop have been announced at Adobe Max 2024, including advancements to core tools such as Generative Fill, Generative Expand and Generate Background that makes use of Adobe Firefly Image Model 3. In all Adobe has revealed more than 100 new AI features across Creative Cloud at Max 2024.

But it's the new AI Distraction Removal feature found in the Remove Tool tab that caught my eye during the Adobe Max 2024 keynote. This new AI tools has been developed to help remove unwanted objects, such as people and wires, from a photo with one click - no more cloning.

The Remove Tool was released last year and can remove objects and fill in the background, but the new Distraction Removal sub-tool goes a step further and has been designed to delete more intricate details, such as wires and cables that can clutter an image.

The case studies and user cases Adobe suggest include a graphic designer who needs to declutter a scene for an architecture client to create a cleaner image, or a travel photographer who needs to showcase an idealised scene free from random people or clutter.

To test out the Distraction Removal too, I jump in and try it on a perfect use case, an English country village street that needs some of those pesky modern phone lines removed. The result is above, and the AI tool did really well, completely removing the cables, even the slim ones in the distance (though the phone line's shadow remains).

Next I figure I'd test the AI a little more, and give it a complex photo filled with cables and wires, as well as flags and bunting. This is a busy image and clutters the cables and wires with those small flags. So how did it do?

It actually does pretty well considering - the results are above - and the Distraction Removal tool manages to take out all of the cables and wires but left the flags (something it's likely not trained to pick out). These can be removed easily using other tools, so it's not a huge issue. This photo took around two minutes to process.

Next I bend the rules and see what the Distraction Removal tool makes of a digital painting. Many of the tools developed for Photoshop are eventually coerced by digital artists and use to paint, draw and edit with, so why not Adobe's latest AI tool?

To start with I decide I'd go all-in and use an AI generated image, in this case an Adobe Firefly created painting of a street with plenty of cables and clutter, set against a sunset, rendered in a loose painterly style.

The results aren't good. The Distraction Removal tool struggles to delete all of the wires and cables and goes further to carve out sections of a building, even removing areas of the painting without cables. It's messy, and the results are above.

There are caveats to remember here, this new AI tool is clearly designed for photographers right now, and in this respect works well, even with complex photos, and perfectly with simpler scenes. Also, there could be flaws in how Adobe Firefly generates and builds its images that makes it harder to identify the areas a new tool like Distraction Removal needs to target.

To learn more about the new Distraction Removal tool and the latest AI news from Adobe Max for Photoshop, visit the Adobe blog.