New online tool purports to isolate the subject of any image using AI

Most people who want to edit an image so as to isolate a single subject may face an arduous Photoshop session to do so. On the other hand, not everyone has Photoshop, and could face a lengthy online search to find another software tool that can do so. The makers of one such utility set out to address these needs. The result is remove.bg, which is described as a free, standalone background-clearing tool.

The user simply uploads their image to the site, so that it can isolate the main subject and cut out the less-defined background. This is reportedly done through the tool's inbuilt AI, which replaces said background with a generic, transparent one "in 5 seconds". The algorithms involved may already be available online on their own; however, remove.bg simply packages them into a monolithic tool for the first time.

Its abilities and mechanisms seem impressive; however, they are also not infallible. The accuracy of the 'isolation' depends on the subject and how clear it is; otherwise, the tool may not return a perfect cut-out as an output. A good example of this is the original and post-processing images of Miles Davis posted by The Verge, in which remove.bg has clearly been confused by the shadows around him. However, it may still beat what could be considerable time spent with Adobe in some cases.

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