Private AI photo search: questions before you turn it on
Before enabling AI search for a personal photo collection, ask for a clear account of what the feature does with your files and your queries. A label such as “private” does not answer each practical question. You need enough detail to decide whether the proposed setup fits your expectations and the way you plan to use the library.
Start with harmless synthetic files. Write down the version and settings you tested, and keep unanswered questions visible. The purpose of a small trial is to understand behaviour before making a decision about your main collection.
What goes into the search index?
Ask which inputs the feature uses. Does it inspect the image itself, filenames, dates, existing captions or other information? Which inputs are optional? Ask when indexing starts, whether it includes the whole collection and whether you can choose a smaller test set.
Request a list of the information created during indexing and an explanation of what each item is used for. If the documentation uses unfamiliar terms, ask for an example using a harmless file. Avoid treating a feature name as a complete description of the information involved.
Where does each step happen?
Ask for the path from a file being selected to a search result appearing. Where is each step performed? What, if anything, is sent to a separate service? Ask the same questions about search queries, diagnostic reports and optional features, rather than stopping at the location of the original file.
Request an answer for the exact configuration you intend to use. If several processing options exist, note which one was described and tested. Record unknowns as unknowns. Do not infer a complete data-flow answer from the fact that one part of the library runs on your server.
What is kept, and for how long?
Ask what remains after indexing or searching, where it is stored and how long it is retained. Include information created from the files, query records and diagnostic logs in the question. Ask which settings affect retention and what happens when an optional service is disabled.
A useful answer names the relevant information and the action that removes it. Keep that explanation with your evaluation notes. If the answer is incomplete, identify the missing part instead of replacing it with an assumption about how similar products behave.
How do corrections and deletion work?
Use a harmless test image to explore a mistaken result. Can you correct any description or label the feature exposes? What does that correction change? Ask how a removed file is handled in the search index and how to check that the documented deletion process has finished.
Also ask about copies included in backups or separate services. Record the scope of the answer carefully: a statement about the active library may not answer your question about every other copy. Do not test these questions by deleting your only copy of personal material.
What will it ask of your equipment?
Find the stated requirements for the exact setup. Ask what happens during the first indexing run, whether work can be paused and how progress or failure is reported. Try a small collection on equipment you are authorised to use and record the conditions beside the result.
Test a few ordinary queries against files whose contents you already know. Note missed and unexpected results without inventing an accuracy percentage from a small sample. Decide which tasks you would still want to perform manually.
Keep finding separate from access
Ask who can run a search and which collection their results can include. Request evidence for access behaviour separately from evidence that a search finds a useful picture. The photo vault and library guide offers more questions about access and storage.
For Inner Pocket Media, smart search is planned. The current development build has no AI features. This guide makes no claim about future processing location or behaviour. Read the features page for the current wording, and ask for a written data-flow explanation before relying on any search feature with your own collection.