AI-generated images bring more profit than real ones

Stock Performer, a group of stock media analysts, has called Adobe Stock an «AI goldmine.» The experts made this conclusion based on the information that images generated by artificial intelligence bring more profit than real ones.

In some cases, images generated by artificial intelligence are more popular than human creations. According to Stock Performer, AI-generated images generate 4.5 times higher profit per month.

In addition, AI users' revenue per photo upload is about 1.59 times higher than that of non-AI sources. However, the sell-through rate (STR or the actual percentage of images with at least one sale) remains at 13% for all content.

«It's important to note that this is hardly definitive proof of AI’s total takeover of stock photo sales, as data collection on this issue is just beginning. In addition, the study is based only on a group of Adobe Stock users who are Stock Performer customers,» Stock Performer analysts emphasized.

It is worth noting that after the sudden popularity of «artificial intelligence», which experienced a real boom in 2022, creative professionals began to protest against the mass use of such algorithms. Last December, thousands of web designers from all over the world went on strike against AI on the ArtStation platform, where art directors look for artists for their projects. The designers opposed the images generated by AI and demanded that the ArtStation administration moderate their number or ban them altogether.

Despite the outrage of a large number of users, in late March 2023, Adobe introduced Firefly, an artificial intelligence that can create images based on a text description. With Firefly, Adobe is trying to solve two problems that hinder the commercial use of the technology: copyright protection and the lack of professional-level tools.