The AI-powered image generators, like Midjourney or DALL-E, are wowing almost everyone. Except, of course, those artists, photographers and platforms that depend precisely on the commercialization of visual material. Some have raised their voices against the use of artificial intelligence, but others, like ShutterstockThey have had no choice but to hug her to avoid future complications.
Shutterstock finally launched its own artificial intelligence to generate images, announced during October of the previous year. The same, moreover, is powered by DALL-Ethe technology created by OpenAI that exploded all this phenomenon the previous year.
At Shutterstock, they know that their stock image bank is still limited despite being one of the largest in the world. By integrating an artificial intelligence tool, however, the limit is the creativity of the user. The latter, through a text field, you can enter the description of the image you want and get a result in a matter of seconds.
In fact, the platform can generate multiple images from a single description so you have multiple options to choose from. In addition, the user has the possibility of determining, prior to the generation process, various characteristics of the material. For example, choosing a filter, a perspective and even an artistic style.
Of course, at Shutterstock they recommend that your text be as detailed as possible. In this way, DALL-E will be able to carry out a job closer to your wishes.
“Use any noun + any verb + any artistic style. And voila! You’ll have a unicorn riding a bike in graffiti style, in no time.”
Of course, just like DALL-E and Midjourney itself, Shutterstock’s artificial intelligence it’s not free. Yes or yes, you will have to be subscribed to some of their different plans.
It is worth mentioning that the partnership between Shutterstock and OpenAI goes beyond the image generator. In the past, both companies joined forces to have a part of the platform material attached to the DALL-E learning source. In 2022, on the other hand, they announced a fund to support artistswho have been harmed by the rise of artificial intelligence.
Shutterstock doesn’t want to fight artificial intelligence
But Shutterstock knows that it cannot survive without embracing the powerful technologies of today. It would be absurd to try to compete against tools capable of generating images from a simple text description. Paul Hennessy, CEO of Shutterstock, spoke on this issue, emphasizing that its technology follows an ethical path.
“The means of expressing creativity are constantly evolving and expanding. We recognize that it is our responsibility to embrace this evolution and ensure that the generative technology that drives innovation is based on ethical practices.”
The manager continued his speech by pointing out that this is not the first time that Shutterstock has opted for artificial intelligence to improve the platform. However, they had never taken such a significant step before. “We have a long history of integrating AI into every part of our business. This competition [con la IA] makes Shutterstock the ideal partner to help our creative community navigate this new technology.”
And while Shutterstock has preferred to ally itself with artificial intelligence instead of causing a conflict, at Getty Images they intend to fight against it through legal channels. Of course, their reasons have. A week ago, Getty Images sued Stability AI, owners of the Stable Diffusion AI, because the latter used their copyrighted images to train itself. Obviously, he did it without prior permission.
Artists Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan and Karla Ortiz, for their part, filed a lawsuit against Midjourney and Stability AI for infringing the copyrights of millions of artists. Like Getty Images, they point out that they have made use of images and other people’s works without authorization.
For now, it seems that the issue of copyright will continue to be the big pending issue regarding the generation of images by artificial intelligence. Not only because of the unauthorized use of data from already existing platforms, but also because the material created could also acquire some type of license. But… In whose name?