Say It, See It: Generative AI in Stock Photography

Is anybody truly surprised that AI is taking over the stock photo business? Everything is about AI these days, and images are no different.

How often do you spend on stock photo sites trying to find the perfect images, only to use the same boring, generic selections?


Well, forget about that old-school approach. Now, Getty and Nvidia are bringing generative AI to their stock photo services. Now, anything you can say, you can see.

Yep. Getty Images and Nvidia are reinforcing their AI partnership by launching Generative AI by iStock, a text-to-image platform designed to create stock photos.

This isn't Getty's first AI rodeo. Generative AI by iStock expands on Getty's initial AI image generation, Generative AI by Getty Images. What's the difference? iStock, a stock service owned by Getty, is aimed more at single-seat users, while Getty Images is geared more toward multi-user enterprise solutions.

Generative AI by iStock was brought up to speed with Nvidia's Picasso model and only learned from Getty's creative library and iStock's stock photo library. Getty's editorial image library was off-limits to avoid generating trademarks and other information that, you know, could cause legal problems and other headaches.

Grant Farhall, Getty's chief product officer, says Generative AI by iStock is aimed at small to medium-sized businesses that require stock images. He further states, "It allows users to be more efficient in their workflow and get more precise photos (or) even something they can't possibly do with a camera."

Imagine telling AI by iStock to give you a photograph of anything, no matter how complex, and having it "take the photo" for you right there. Doesn't sound bad, and, oh, the fun you can have.

The real advantage here is getting images you could never capture with a real camera because a moose smoking a cigarette and playing cards with a grizzly bear is pretty rare.

For those who like the legal details, a big difference between the Getty Images AI platform and the iStock service is that it is focused on legal indemnity. "Unlike Generative AI by Getty Images, users will not have unlimited indemnification." The iStock platform has a cap of $10,000 per asset, the same license as its current library. Contributors whose work was used to train AI by iStock can be part of a revenue-sharing program to ensure they are compensated.

These new AI advances might be fun, but one thing is sure. Seeing isn't believing anymore.

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