regular photos I shot on cameras.  Anybody else feel the same?
I pay $120/month on Midjourney and also bought Gigapixel AI to create those AI photos.  So, it's a confirmation that what I'm doing is working for me.  That doesn't mean I stop shooting stock photos with my camera, but it's good to see people are actually buying my AI generated photos.

It's satisfying, yes. But mixed with other feelings, also. At least in my case.
I, myself, started using Midjourney back in april, when I noticed that the "Recent Top Sellers" section at AS was flooded with AI generated content. I thought I could give it a try to see how it goes. Yes, the generated images are beautiful - as long as you watch them as a thumbnail. When you look at them in full size, especially after being upscaled, they look awful. A photo shot with the camera, or an illustration would never get approved if they looked like this. They are grainy, choppy, the details are off. If I were a buyer, I would be quite unhappy to get this level of quality in exchange for my money. So it took me a while to get the courage to submit the first batch. But I found out soon enough that these images get accepted and sell like crazy. And I thought - hey, who am I to judge? If AS asks for them and the buyers like them and keep buying them, then clearly someone should provide these images. And so I kept generating and uploading.
Yes, it's nice to see the $$ coming in. And it's very profitable - since you spend way less time and money generating an image with MJ than with your camera. And it's very satisfying, since you are only limited by your imagination. But even if you take the time and effort to carefully choose only the ~30% of the generated images that are correct (no extra limbs etc), you still feel (a little) guilty about putting some content on sell that looks like garbage when viewed at 100%.
I'm sure that somewhere in the near future (maybe one or two years from now), the AI based image generators will be able to produce clean and crisp high resolution images. But it's not the case right now.

I was wondering the same thing

I confirm,maybe it's because you can create whatever you want,but yes,AI are addictive!

Haha!!

I pay $120/month on Midjourney

Are your images selling for at least $120 a month?

It's satisfying, yes. But mixed with other feelings, also. At least in my case.
I, myself, started using Midjourney back in april, when I noticed that the "Recent Top Sellers" section at AS was flooded with AI generated content. I thought I could give it a try to see how it goes. Yes, the generated images are beautiful - as long as you watch them as a thumbnail. When you look at them in full size, especially after being upscaled, they look awful. A photo shot with the camera, or an illustration would never get approved if they looked like this. They are grainy, choppy, the details are off. If I were a buyer, I would be quite unhappy to get this level of quality in exchange for my money. So it took me a while to get the courage to submit the first batch. But I found out soon enough that these images get accepted and sell like crazy. And I thought - hey, who am I to judge? If AS asks for them and the buyers like them and keep buying them, then clearly someone should provide these images. And so I kept generating and uploading.
Yes, it's nice to see the $$ coming in. And it's very profitable - since you spend way less time and money generating an image with MJ than with your camera. And it's very satisfying, since you are only limited by your imagination. But even if you take the time and effort to carefully choose only the ~30% of the generated images that are correct (no extra limbs etc), you still feel (a little) guilty about putting some content on sell that looks like garbage when viewed at 100%.
I'm sure that somewhere in the near future (maybe one or two years from now), the AI based image generators will be able to produce clean and crisp high resolution images. But it's not the case right now.

the fact is that the quality is still not excellent,the generations are imperfect,and we need to improve the sharpness,resolution,and therefore they must be worked on in post production,this for the moment in my opinion gives us yet another advantage.

I think they will always continue to be sold,it must also be understood that not all Adobe Stock customers are interested in generating with AI and will always prefer to purchase ready-made content,but I think now is the best time.

when the Adobe Stock collection exceeds 300 million,it will already be different,but I hope I'm obviously wrong!

I'm not sure how well people are doing with "AI" images overall, but to me it seems:

(a) Some people may have 1-2 images that "take off" (i.e., maybe make them $100-$200 over the course of several months, if they are really lucky, maybe $200-$300). The rest never really get seen. If you live in a country where $3-$5 USD/hour is a "good wage", then you are ecstatic. (I.e., like an american say getting $700-$800 for an image).

(b) The "ai" stuff is being flooded from people in countries where that is the case. To properly post produce, edit, crop, find good keywords, properly title, etc is a very time consuming process - but I suppose that is why is a number of people just don't do that. (So you see 3 arms, strange titles, or simply the actual prompts, etc). And I've seen a lot of people skipping that process.

(c) I suspect it is a little bit like gambling on slots. If/when you "hit big" (i.e., generate $100 in cumalative sales for a single "ai" image) - then you think EVERY image is going to be like that, and you start going a little nuts (not realizing not every image is going to be like that).

One question - if you are spending $120/month on image generation, are you at the very least seeing that as a return? More specifically - a significant return?

My guess is the majority (i.e., 80%+) are just making say $100-$200/month from the "ai" images, while of course a very small majority making more than that...

you have to produce a lot of them,over time you start to earn more,you certainly can't arrive and start making 100usd a week from one day to another.

the OP was right in making this investment in my opinion,and is an experienced contributor,who has managed to see what many experienced contributors don't want to see,that times have changed and we need to adapt,those who manage to understand this only have to gain from it.

Quote from: blvdone on November 04, 2023, 08:55

I pay $120/month on Midjourney

Are your images selling for at least $120 a month?

Not yet.  I just started Using Midjourney like 2 months ago.  Due to the slow review process on Adobe Stock, I have like 2,400 AI images in review right now and only like 300 online.  I will stop $120/month subscription after a few months of mass producing AI photos till I ran out of my ideas.  But hopefully, I'll at least make my money back for Midjourney subscription fee and my labor.

I'm not sure how well people are doing with "AI" images overall, but to me it seems:

(a) Some people may have 1-2 images that "take off" (i.e., maybe make them $100-$200 over the course of several months, if they are really lucky, maybe $200-$300). The rest never really get seen. If you live in a country where $3-$5 USD/hour is a "good wage", then you are ecstatic. (I.e., like an american say getting $700-$800 for an image).

(b) The "ai" stuff is being flooded from people in countries where that is the case. To properly post produce, edit, crop, find good keywords, properly title, etc is a very time consuming process - but I suppose that is why is a number of people just don't do that. (So you see 3 arms, strange titles, or simply the actual prompts, etc). And I've seen a lot of people skipping that process.

(c) I suspect it is a little bit like gambling on slots. If/when you "hit big" (i.e., generate $100 in cumalative sales for a single "ai" image) - then you think EVERY image is going to be like that, and you start going a little nuts (not realizing not every image is going to be like that).

One question - if you are spending $120/month on image generation, are you at the very least seeing that as a return? More specifically - a significant return?

My guess is the majority (i.e., 80%+) are just making say $100-$200/month from the "ai" images, while of course a very small majority making more than that...

I will not keep $120/month Midjourney subscription for over a few months I'm mass producing AI images.  So, if I make $200/month for 3 years from those AI generated images, it's a success for me.

Quote from: blvdone on November 05, 2023, 11:37

Quote from: stoker2014 on November 05, 2023, 06:23

Quote from: blvdone on November 04, 2023, 08:55

I pay $120/month on Midjourney

Are your images selling for at least $120 a month?

Not yet.  I just started Using Midjourney like 2 months ago.  Due to the slow review process on Adobe Stock, I have like 2,400 AI images in review right now and only like 300 online.  I will stop $120/month subscription after a few months of mass producing AI photos till I ran out of my ideas.  But hopefully, I'll at least make my money back for Midjourney subscription fee and my labor.

Okay, makes sense.

Out of curiosity, how have you done (sales wise) from the 300 online you have so far? There are some 20,000,000+ "ai" images currently, I would estimate maybe $15-$20?

Just started seeing AI photo sales here and there.  That's all.  Maybe not even $5 so far, but probably selling a little better than if I uploaded new actual photos from cameras.  I feel like if I don't make AI photos now, my sales will be cut in half in a year because of buyers buying AI photos.  So, I got to fight that.

Quote from: SuperPhoto on November 05, 2023, 10:09

I'm not sure how well people are doing with "AI" images overall, but to me it seems:

(a) Some people may have 1-2 images that "take off" (i.e., maybe make them $100-$200 over the course of several months, if they are really lucky, maybe $200-$300). The rest never really get seen. If you live in a country where $3-$5 USD/hour is a "good wage", then you are ecstatic. (I.e., like an american say getting $700-$800 for an image).

(b) The "ai" stuff is being flooded from people in countries where that is the case. To properly post produce, edit, crop, find good keywords, properly title, etc is a very time consuming process - but I suppose that is why is a number of people just don't do that. (So you see 3 arms, strange titles, or simply the actual prompts, etc). And I've seen a lot of people skipping that process.

(c) I suspect it is a little bit like gambling on slots. If/when you "hit big" (i.e., generate $100 in cumalative sales for a single "ai" image) - then you think EVERY image is going to be like that, and you start going a little nuts (not realizing not every image is going to be like that).

One question - if you are spending $120/month on image generation, are you at the very least seeing that as a return? More specifically - a significant return?

My guess is the majority (i.e., 80%+) are just making say $100-$200/month from the "ai" images, while of course a very small majority making more than that...

you have to produce a lot of them,over time you start to earn more,you certainly can't arrive and start making 100usd a week from one day to another.

the OP was right in making this investment in my opinion,and is an experienced contributor,who has managed to see what many experienced contributors don't want to see,that times have changed and we need to adapt,those who manage to understand this only have to gain from it.

Exactly, good point.  We just can't keep complaining about AI and do nothing.  That's like being a deer in the headlight.  We got to adapt and take advantage of our knowledge on stock photos to produce better AI photos than newbies.

I'd likely feel happier selling AI generated photos too... if I had all my videos exclusive with Pond5, just so I could see some regular sales again.

While 120 a month is a lot, I am sure you will make your money back. I also think the privacy option is very important.

Still haven't tried midjourney, one day I will.

Happy to see you are enjoying ai.

The sales will come and bring a nice balance to your video sales.

Plus...everything you learn now you will be able to use when ai video comes.