The resounding arrival on the scene of image generators from text has meant a real revolution that will probably shake the foundations of the creative industry (from which some already fear being pushed out by generative AI ).
Particularly problematic (or at least controversial) is the emergence of generative AI for image banks , which are currently in the extremely difficult position of resisting the powerful spell of Midjourney, DALL-E 2 and company or throwing themselves into their arms.
The approach of image banks to the most thriving hype of the moment in the "techie" arena is far from homogeneous (we are, after all, dealing with a technology that is still very young).
While Getty Images decided to sue Stability AI, the croatia number data parent company of the Stable Diffusion image generator , about two weeks ago , its rival Shutterstock has taken the opposite path and decided to jump on the generative AI bandwagon . The famous image bank has lifted the curtain on its own generative AI tool.
The New York company has launched a new feature that allows its paying users to generate images from text directly from its website .
Shutterstock's image generator will use proprietary material
Shutterstock's new image generator is based on a deal the company struck with OpenAI under which the popular imagery company will be able to use DALL-E 2's technology to generate content based on text descriptions.
The main strength of Shutterstock's new image generator is that it is a tool that is trained on its own images and not on huge datasets (where copyrighted material often sneaks in).
Shutterstock stresses that it has reached an agreement with artists who collaborate on its platform so that they “receive appropriate compensation” if their work becomes the seed of new content generated by generative AI.
The company says it will pay artists through a contributors' fund ,
Shutterstock's decision to equip itself with its own generative AI tool does not mean that it will accept any AI-generated content on its domain. In fact, the company still prohibits its users from publishing images generated by other AI tools.