Google uses AI to sharpen low-res images

The results are far from perfect, but can frequently come close to the real deal. A virtually unusable 8-pixel by 8-pixel portrait suddenly has recognizable facial features, for instance. And even in those moments where the AI system gets many details wrong, it's frequently close enough that you'll at least have an inkling of what's there. An indistinguishable blob might become clear enough to tell that it's a bedroom. Google (on some Android phones) is already using a similar implementation for image compression.