The Shutterstock Generative AI Image Tool Has Been Released. In October, Shutterstock secured a contract with OpenAi, the maker of DALL-E, to provide its clients with access to the AI feature.
You can now create your own AI images when you buy a subscription to Shutterstock, one of the largest online libraries of stock pictures and drawings. The contentious DALL-E AI tool’s developer, OpenAI, was introduced as a partner in October. The agreement’s outcomes are now under beta testing and will soon be made available to all Shutterstock subscribers.
According to a corporate press release, the new platform can be used in “any language the site offers” and is part of users’ existing license agreements. According to Gizmodo’s testing, for every word prompt sent into Shutterstock’s system, it returns four ” customized ” photos for your request. The website also recommends “More AI-generated photos from the Shutterstock library” under the page’s footer, which provides random views of nothing.
A word of caution before you replace all your tried-and-true stock photo standbys with artificially intelligent creations: Artificial intelligence being used to produce “art” is becoming a controversial topic. There are several possible ethical and legal issues in generative AI.
As to why there’s so much concern,
All AI relies on datasets, which are extensive collections of information used to instruct the system on how to do tasks. And those training sets for AI picture producers include human-created images, frequently from artists who rely on their craft for survival.
Stable Diffusion, an artificial intelligence art generator, and others have been sued several times in recent years for copyright infringement. In addition, the law has yet to establish a definitive precedent for dealing with such circumstances.
Getty Images, a major rival of Shutterstock, has said it would not be entering the artificial intelligence market anytime soon. The website no longer allows computer-generated art. Additionally, Getty’s CEO Craig Peters has remarked of the technology, “I believe that’s risky. That is not a responsible action. It could be against the law, and he told The Verge.
AI is taking “inspiration” from the work of actual humans. It takes work to determine whether and when AI generators are stealing from visual artists. Style in art is often seen as being up to interpretation. However, with AI-generated language, plagiarism is far more noticeable, albeit not any more flagrant, than in human-created literature. If artificial intelligence isn’t handled wisely, it might lead to a rash of thefts in the arts.
What methods does Shutterstock plan to use to avoid this problem?
Shutterstock has revealed it utilizes “datasets licensed from Shutterstock” to train its DALL-E and LG EXAONE-powered AI, which is an attempt to head off worries about copyright law and creative ethics.
The firm further asserts that it would compensate musicians whose work is included in its AI-generated content. For this purpose, Shutterstock is planning to establish a “Contributor Fund.”
In a frequently asked questions section on its website, Shutterstock notes that the fund “would directly reward Shutterstock participants if their IP was utilized in creating AI-generative models.
Such as the OpenAI model, via license of data from Shutterstock’s collection.” Also, “Shutterstock will continue to reimburse authors for future licensing of AI-generated material using the Shutterstock AI content generating platform,” it states.
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In December of 2022, following the close of the company’s final fiscal quarter, creators expected to receive their first payout. Neither the number of contributors who were compensated last month nor the total amount given is known with any certainty now. Gizmodo contacted Shutterstock to ask them questions regarding this procedure but has yet to hear back from them immediately.
Additionally, the restrictions for using AI photos on Shutterstock contain a creative disclaimer. The firm emphasizes that the created picture must not be used to generate spam or false, misleading, deceptive, dangerous, or violent content.
This includes infringing on a third party’s property rights or other rights. As far as I can tell, and I’m no lawyer, this provision places the burden of safety on the consumer. The onus is on the users of Shutterstock’s service to identify and prevent republishing inappropriate materials, such as trademarked or celebrity-related elements, in an automatically generated image.