Lightroom's AI features have evolved from simple auto-adjustments to genuinely powerful editing tools. Here's how to use each one effectively.

AI-Powered Masking

Lightroom's AI masking is a game-changer. Instead of manually painting masks, AI detects:

• Select Subject — Automatically masks the main subject in the image
• Select Sky — Masks the sky with incredible precision, even through trees
• Select Background — Everything except the subject
• Select People — Detects individuals and offers sub-selections:
  • Face skin, body skin, eyebrows, teeth, lips, eyes, hair, clothes

Workflow:

1. Click the Masking tool (or press M)
2. Choose "Select Subject" or "Select Sky"
3. Lightroom AI analyzes and creates the mask in seconds
4. Adjust sliders to edit only the masked area

Example: Select the sky → increase vibrance and decrease exposure for a more dramatic sky, without affecting the foreground.

Adaptive Presets

Traditional presets apply the same adjustments everywhere. Adaptive presets use AI masking to apply targeted changes:

• "Enhance Sky" — Boosts only the sky area
• "Brighten Face" — Lifts exposure only on detected faces
• "Blur Background" — Adds depth blur to everything except the subject

You can stack multiple adaptive presets for complex edits in seconds.

AI Denoise

One of Lightroom's most impressive features. AI Denoise uses machine learning to remove noise while preserving detail:

1. Open the Detail panel
2. Click "Denoise"
3. Choose strength (start at 50, adjust as needed)
4. Preview the result
5. Click "Enhance" — Lightroom creates a new DNG file with the noise removed

The quality is remarkable — it can rescue shots taken at ISO 6400+ that would have been unusable with traditional noise reduction.

Content-Aware Remove

Lightroom's healing tool now uses AI for content-aware removal:

• Select the healing brush
• Paint over unwanted objects (power lines, trash, photobombers)
• AI analyzes surrounding content and fills in naturally
• Works best with non-complex backgrounds

Lens Blur (AI Bokeh)

Simulate shallow depth of field after the fact:

1. Click the Lens Blur panel
2. AI automatically creates a depth map of your image
3. Adjust blur amount with the slider
4. Fine-tune the focal point and blur characteristics

This lets smartphone photos achieve a DSLR-like bokeh effect.

AI-Powered Search

Lightroom can search your photo library using natural language:

• "sunset at the beach"
• "photos of dogs"
• "red car"
• "birthday party"

AI analyzes image content and returns relevant results without any manual tagging.