The Master AI is on by default and it's impossible to miss. Let's say you're getting ready to shoot the New York City skyline. Once everything is lined up just right, a bubble might pop up indicating that the camera sees blue skies — it'll fire up the right preset and you'll suddenly see the buildings take on more contrast and the sky turn a more vibrant shade of blue. If you're just milling around with friends, on the other hand, pointing the camera at someone's face fires up Portrait mode. It's a lot like LG's approach to camera modes in the V30S ThinQ, except Huawei's version works much faster.

More often than not, I appreciated the help Huawei's camera AI gave me — it tended to paint the world around me in a more generous light. The Master AI's persistence raises an interesting question about the value of cameras, though: Should it just shoot what it sees or should it try to improve on objective reality? Just about every AI-chosen camera mode results in a photo of a flower or a sky or a plate of food that looks a little better than the real thing. For people constantly trying to show off the best versions of their lives, the P20 Pro is an incredible tool. Purists who'd rather see things just as they are, however, will be glad to know that the AI can be disabled. (By the way, Huawei, it would've been nice to be able to toggle it right from the viewfinder screen.)