Shutterstock is enthusiastic about AI-generated art. According to reports, the photo provider has expanded its partnership with OpenAI to begin selling stock images created with the DALL-E 2 AI generator. The approach will provide “direct access” to DALL-E via the Shutterstock website, as well as compensate creators whose images helped develop the technology through a new Contributor Fund. The company also intends to pay royalties to artists whose work is used by the AI.
In 2021, OpenAI will use Shutterstock images and data to train DALL-text-to-image E’s generation models. The expanded agreement represents one of the first practical applications of the technology via OpenAI’s programming kit.
The DALL-E integration will be available in the “next few months.” Importantly, Shutterstock will prohibit AI-generated art created outside of OpenAI’s platform. Of course, this protects the companies’ business models, but it also ensures that Shutterstock can identify the content used and pay the producers appropriately. Payments will be made every six months and will include revenue from training data as well as image royalties.
This is the first major compensation-based agreement of its kind, and it could help resolve the debate over whether AI-generated art is borrowed or stolen. Other businesses have been more circumspect. Getty Images, a competitor of Shutterstock, has completely banned AI-created images due to copyright concerns and is even using filters to prevent that content from passing through. Meanwhile, Google is keeping its Imagen tool private until it can find a “responsible” way to make the system public.
It’s unclear how Shutterstock will compensate creators. Artists are likely to earn less from AI licensing payments than if customers pay for the original images used by DALL-E to create its amalgamations. While this agreement is a step toward greater harmony between AI and the creative world, it is definitely not the final solution.
