https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2024/03/07/future-proofing-creativity-5-strategies-for-stock-photographers-videographers-in-the-age-of-ai/

Input: �An array of Mexican dishes is beautifully presented for a feast. The table is dressed with a colorful tablecloth, making the traditional cuisine such as guacamole, salsa, and cheese-topped entree even more enticing. Various sauces and fresh ingredients complement the central dish, suggesting a celebration or a special meal. feast,guacamole,salsa,cheese,traditional dishes,colorful tablecloth,food,meal,celebration,banquet,cuisine,tortilla,avocado,lime,cilantro,beans,rice,table setting,dinner,lunch,culinary,culture,mexican,festive,ingredients,entree,bright,vibrant,tasty,assortment, top down�

Not every buyer will be able to write such texts for programs that create photos or videos using artificial intelligence. The buyer must also be a writer and screenwriter! 

^^ I'm assuming that many buyers won't create the AI themselves (or hire prompt engineers) but license them at stock agencies with more generic keywords.

Fun fact - shooting the things that AI does poorly helps train the AI to do it better. eg hands, bananas, etc.

Pixsy is a cool service.

Have you, or any other microstock photographer, had any success with them?
Because I tried to used their service for a few very obviously stolen photos and my experience has been very disappointing.
They declined to take my case with a whole list of reasons why and among them was
1. That my photos were offered on microstock sites and therefore it was not worth the effort
2. That I had not registered my photos with the US copyright office.

Both these reasons were very baffling to me. When you fill out the form for with them you have a field where you can enter whether your images are offered on microstock sites. Why is the option even in the form?
And why would I even register my photos with the US copyright office? I am from Germany. Everywhere in Europe you are automatically the copyright owner of your own creations and do not need to register copyright anywhere.
And they took weeks to even get back to me. Why don't they just write on their website "We do not accept cases of photos that are offered on microstock sites and are not registered with the US copright office" from the start and save me and them bot the work?

Dear human Colleagues,

As AI technology continues to advance, it�s understandable for us stock photographers and videographers to feel somewhat concerned about its potential disruptions to our revenue streams. We can just keep doing the same old and hope that it just �blows over� (which it won�t) or we may adopt strategies to protect our livelihoods.

I've published five such strategies that you may wish to start adopting right away � let�s get started!

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2024/03/07/future-proofing-creativity-5-strategies-for-stock-photographers-videographers-in-the-age-of-ai/

Alex

Thank you for your sights and ideas! Interesting article!
All strategies make sense, although I would say most portraits are already photo-realistic, so I would say one have to focus on new creative concepts to stand out from the masses in the future and can't be copied easily because the mass don't having the skills yet or the AI not enough training materials to recreate.

Here one example for the portrait with the elderly man.
Prompt with Stable Diffusion XL + AI Upscaler:
An elderly man in a flat cap and suit looks into the distance. He is standing in front of a lush green field with rolling hills in the background.
https://ibb.co/N23HqZk

Second try with same set up and following prompt:
An elderly gentleman wearing a flat cap, overcoat, and tie stands in front of a lush green field. He looks off to the side, with a small hill in the background.
https://ibb.co/5knKyjz

There are some generation artifacts and errors but you have to look closely and can retouche them easily.

Hands are really tricky currently. But it is just a matter of time when you will create shots of hands without errors.
You can already create some simple compositions with hands, although you still can obviously spot huge anatomy errors.
Prompt with Stable Diffusion XL + AI Upscaler:
A close-up of two beautiful hands, one male larger and one female smaller, interlocking fingers against sandy beach.
https://ibb.co/gJF431B

But probably there are already fine tuned models, which I don't know yet. I would not focus on these type of shots.

Complex nature landscapes are really hard to generate. Can't imagine there is already a good model. This content should be safe like architecture for several years.
Although I have recently found an extremely good model for modern, stylic interior shots.
This model generates only a few errors. So who knows what you can already find, if you search for a longer time.

(a) It's REALLY important to remember "ai" tools are based off of THEFT of assets. The biggest "problem" "AI" companies have is figuring out how to remove WATERMARKS. I.e., because they STEAL assets.
(b) It's important to push for/request with companies you deal with that you be compensated for the stolen assets. It's very easy to 'backwards compensate' people - it requires some programming - but definitely doable.
(c) Authors should be compensated in perpetuity, because the "ai" tools (goal) is to sell in perpetuity.

Why do you think that artificial intelligence steals things? The developers say that this intelligence is like the human brain. He is taught by the example of some works, but then he creates his own works. You also learned to draw or photograph from the example of other people�s works and copied them at the beginning. Then you started creating your own works. So is artificial intelligence.

Quote from: SuperPhoto on March 08, 2024, 08:20

(a) It's REALLY important to remember "ai" tools are based off of THEFT of assets. The biggest "problem" "AI" companies have is figuring out how to remove WATERMARKS. I.e., because they STEAL assets.
(b) It's important to push for/request with companies you deal with that you be compensated for the stolen assets. It's very easy to 'backwards compensate' people - it requires some programming - but definitely doable.
(c) Authors should be compensated in perpetuity, because the "ai" tools (goal) is to sell in perpetuity.

Why do you think that artificial intelligence steals things?

, they wanted to pay for it, they wanted to make a semblance of compensation!!!
They wanted to clear their conscience and avoid legal proceedings, but in fact, it is a mistake that they made, because by doing so they recognize their great accountability.

The developers say that this intelligence is like the human brain. He is taught by the example of some works, but then he creates his own works. You also learned to draw or photograph from the example of other people�s works and copied them at the beginning. Then you started creating your own works. So is artificial intelligence.

Have you ever developed a skill in your life? What is your competence if we unplug the machine? The AI did not scrutinize reality to learn, it ingested the work and expertise of real people. His vision is not objective, it is oriented and inspired by human work (which has been copied/looted). And human vision is driven by emotion, real organic intelligence, not a machine vision.

But I'm laughing, I looked at the two faces posted here (https://ibb.co/N23HqZk, https://ibb.co/5knKyjz), it looks fake, plastic, artificial to me!!! Is everyone already fooled by this?

Quote from: DiscreetDuck on March 08, 2024, 09:27

Quote from: stoker2014 on March 08, 2024, 08:28

Quote from: SuperPhoto on March 08, 2024, 08:20

(a) It's REALLY important to remember "ai" tools are based off of THEFT of assets. The biggest "problem" "AI" companies have is figuring out how to remove WATERMARKS. I.e., because they STEAL assets.
(b) It's important to push for/request with companies you deal with that you be compensated for the stolen assets. It's very easy to 'backwards compensate' people - it requires some programming - but definitely doable.
(c) Authors should be compensated in perpetuity, because the "ai" tools (goal) is to sell in perpetuity.

Why do you think that artificial intelligence steals things?

, they wanted to pay for it, they wanted to make a semblance of compensation!!!
They wanted to clear their conscience and avoid legal proceedings, but in fact, it is a mistake that they made, because by doing so they recognize their great accountability.

Quote from: stoker2014 on March 08, 2024, 08:28

The developers say that this intelligence is like the human brain. He is taught by the example of some works, but then he creates his own works. You also learned to draw or photograph from the example of other people�s works and copied them at the beginning. Then you started creating your own works. So is artificial intelligence.

Have you ever developed a skill in your life? What is your competence if we unplug the machine? The AI did not scrutinize reality to learn, it ingested the work and expertise of real people. His vision is not objective, it is oriented and inspired by human work (which has been copied/looted). And human vision is driven by emotion, real organic intelligence, not a machine vision.

Come on. This is just ridiculous as an argument. What's your skill, if the supermarkets will be closed. Can you grow potatoes in the field, milk cows and make cheese?
Or can you sew your own clothes?

These are all skills that only a few special ones do today because of the industrial revolution. The same will happen to photographers. Why do you think that a skill of a photographer is much more worth than from a farmer? Because it's based on emotions?

Knowing how to do something does not mean knowing how to do everything, your arguments are really ridiculous.
As of tomorrow, I am fully capable of managing my food autonomy; I have developed this skill over the years. And I have quantities of organic, non-hybrid seeds...

You can well imagine that machine learning was done from the work of competent people, having produced quality images that sold, the machines did not ingest the unsaleable crap produced by those who today feast on generation by AI...

Quote from: Andrej.S. on March 08, 2024, 09:35

Quote from: DiscreetDuck on March 08, 2024, 09:27

Quote from: stoker2014 on March 08, 2024, 08:28

Quote from: SuperPhoto on March 08, 2024, 08:20

(a) It's REALLY important to remember "ai" tools are based off of THEFT of assets. The biggest "problem" "AI" companies have is figuring out how to remove WATERMARKS. I.e., because they STEAL assets.
(b) It's important to push for/request with companies you deal with that you be compensated for the stolen assets. It's very easy to 'backwards compensate' people - it requires some programming - but definitely doable.
(c) Authors should be compensated in perpetuity, because the "ai" tools (goal) is to sell in perpetuity.

Why do you think that artificial intelligence steals things?

, they wanted to pay for it, they wanted to make a semblance of compensation!!!
They wanted to clear their conscience and avoid legal proceedings, but in fact, it is a mistake that they made, because by doing so they recognize their great accountability.

Quote from: stoker2014 on March 08, 2024, 08:28

The developers say that this intelligence is like the human brain. He is taught by the example of some works, but then he creates his own works. You also learned to draw or photograph from the example of other people�s works and copied them at the beginning. Then you started creating your own works. So is artificial intelligence.

Have you ever developed a skill in your life? What is your competence if we unplug the machine? The AI did not scrutinize reality to learn, it ingested the work and expertise of real people. His vision is not objective, it is oriented and inspired by human work (which has been copied/looted). And human vision is driven by emotion, real organic intelligence, not a machine vision.

Come on. This is just ridiculous as an argument. What's your skill, if the supermarkets will be closed. Can you grow potatoes in the field, milk cows and make cheese?
Or can you sew your own clothes?

These are all skills that only a few special ones do today because of the industrial revolution. The same will happen to photographers. Why do you think that a skill of a photographer is much more worth than from a farmer? Because it's based on emotions?

Knowing how to do something does not mean knowing how to do everything, your arguments are really ridiculous.
As of tomorrow, I am fully capable of managing my food autonomy; I have developed this skill over the years. And I have quantities of organic, non-hybrid seeds...

You can well imagine that machine learning was done from the work of competent people, having produced quality images that sold, the machines did not ingest the unsaleable crap produced by those who today feast on generation by AI...

Ok, probably this conversation will get ridiculous, but I'm gonna give a try.
Do you mean that you or the humanity is capable of managing your food, for example by planting seeds?
If you are that skilled that you can grow own food and have a garden, then hats off to you!
I speak 2 native languages (german and russian) and speak somehow ok englisch and a little bit french (as kid in school it was much better), but really I would probably starve to death, if there would be a crisis on earth and the food supplain chain would not work anymore for several years. Or probably I would simply raid the farmers' fields so that my small daughter and my wife can survive.

Human expertise and competence are indeed extremely necessary but you have to decide which profession we are talking about. Is it a highly qualified profession like a hand surgeon or a farmer, or a 9 to 5 office armchair man or a micro stock photographer.

I mean, yes, I'm sure there will still be extremely highly skilled photographers in fields like wedding or architecture who can still compete against AI.
But there won't be any masses of them.

Quote from: SuperPhoto on March 07, 2024, 22:28

One thing I find funny is people need to use words correctly. The "training" is "stealing". Call it for what it is. The "ai" (which is not true ai, but essentially sophisticated theft & pattern re-arrangment) STEALS images. They need data to STEAL. If it doesn't have data to steal, then it can't "train".

Is training stealing when they pay for the image use?

Obviously not, but you can argue about the fact that some agencies like Adobe or Shutterstock either don't let or delayed the opt-out for contributors.
But yeah that's business.

Read just on Adobe's Discord channel, that the staff of Stability AI have tried to harvest (steal) all prompts and images on Midjourney, so that their servers collapsed for 24h and Midjourney banned all Stability's staff accounts. But can't tell if that's really true. Would be crazy.