I know AI is improving all the time and, despite how we feel about it, it's here to stay.

The main sites have made their choices to accept it or not, and I'm sure most of us are working within the guidelines given.

However, this month on Shutterstock has gotten off to a really bad start, so I did some searches to see what has happened to the images that were selling daily, but have now suddenly stopped.

I looked at some broad subjects, where my images were well placed, and there is now so much approved AI, that real photos are being pushed further and further back. I'm not referring to Shutterstock's AI tool, but to people who are trying to pass off AI as real photos.

I have a lot of wildlife shots, so the first searches I checked, (restricting to photos and any time) were as follows:

'Koala'  - nearly 25k images. The number 1 spot is an Offset image and images 2 - 6 are AI, with several more on the first page.

'Kangaroo' - over 71k images. The top 10 has 3 AI images, and the 2nd image is a very rare 6 legged kangaroo.

'Lion' - over 600k images. At least 9 of the first 16 are AI.

'Jellyfish' - over 86k images. The top 10 are 2 from Offset and 8 AI.

'Polar Bear' - 44k images. At least 5 of the first 13 are AI, with AI images taking the first two spots.

'Dolphin' - 90k images. Of the top 30 images, no less than 15 are AI.

For every search I make, I'm finding similar results, and I've reported several portfolios to Shutterstock. A few have been removed, but many remain.

I know that someone started a thread here with stolen content, which makes sense, as we all want to check such portfolios for our own images, but I'm hoping that by listing some of the AI portfolios here, Shutterstock might take notice and take action quickly.

Here are a few that I've found today:

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/munawaekhan
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/almogphoto
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Amarphotocreater
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Tahseenamjad
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Toufiqrahaman
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Behramkhan03
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/rinku+makwana
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/ContentCreater1
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/IrfY
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/MuhammadAsif6


Please feel free to add any you find to this thread, or report directly, as these images are forcing us down in the searches, and it's not restricted to wildlife, but to almost all subjects, from food to interiors to landscapes to Christmas.

How 6 legged kangaroos are getting through a review process, is beyond me, so I can only assume that perhaps AI is checking on AI? Maybe if we start to call it out here, someone at Shutterstock will take action?

Yes, some blatant AI imagery in those ports.

I know SS have opened up the flood gates in their acceptance, but how on earth are the SS reviewers allowing them to pass?

I also mentioned this in another thread but if they are using our content for AI training, doesn't using AI images end up degrading the model? (unless companies like Nvidia have their own AI detection tools).

Also, are there any free online tools to check if an image was AI generated?

SS partnered with OpenAI to provide AI image synthesis services using the DALL-E API. Anything that comes from SS is from OpenAI. As for training from AI to teach AI, that's 100% wrong and shouldn't be done as it defeats the natural progression of "training".

Passing these horrid images, and if they aren't marked as AI, then the whole system is broken on SS. AI reviewing AI is just as bad.

In the past they turned a blind eye to people using multiple keywords in the title to game the search, I doubt they are any better or care more now.

But customers licensing images are going to complain pretty loudly when they realise that the kangaroo in the 'photo' has two extra legs. 

I don't know if there are any free tools but, as Shutterstock strip the metadata, then it's probably not going to allow us to check submitted content, but they are a tech company, and should certainly be able to spot any markers in uploaded files. There reviewers should also be able to spot the obvious here, so they either don't care or don't exist, and the checks are Ai?

The ones I added above are just the tip of the iceberg.

Yeah I've seen plenty of them including video.

Kind of makes you wonder what's coming next from SS, maybe another 'exciting news' email.

delete

I've just browsed through lots of photos and videos that used AI in some shape or form, I knew AI was getting through the cracks but had no idea it was this bad.

So think it's confirmed, SS are officially unofficially accepting AI content, there's no denying it now.

Get ready for an official announcement or maybe a soft launch where they don't tell anyone, but quietly change their terms and conditions.

I do hope you're wrong and that there's a sudden crackdown on this.

Even if they made a decision to accept AI, which I really think is doubtful, it still needs to be labelled as such, which would mean anything incorrectly approved still needs to be removed.

So their AI reviewer failed to spot the obvious AI slop. It's still a win-win for SS. Once these ports get reported and banned they get to keep all the earnings

Sure, but alienating customers isn't good business strategy.

So how does it work at SS? Who generates the AI content they are selling?

Customers generate artwork and license it as non-exclusive Royalty Free content, and Shutterstock also add that work for sale, I believe.

Their own AI is clearly labelled, and the portfolio name is 'Shutterstock AI'. Any in a different portfolio shouldn't be there.

They also have a disclaimer, because they don't check the content that's been generated, so there is a lot available that normally wouldn't pass review, like logos, celebrities and film characters.

Edit: to add screenshot/disclaimer information

to add pain to injury they are forcing contributors to submit their work for "data licensing". i have recently started uploading videos and have opted out of video data licensing on my profile. however my recently reviewed items are still being licensed for data. they contact form is not working for me either and i have reported this issue as well. (their responses don't load when you click the link in the email and it goes to the help page)
In fact i should make this a stand alone post. how do people deal with that platform???

As I understand it, content can be approved, rejected or approved just for data licensing, and this happens regardless of opting in or out. But, if you opt out, it isn't used.

I guess it's a start that some of these have now been removed.

But, a guy bragging on Facebook this morning about his earnings for the last couple of months totalling several hundred dollars, has my blood boiling again.

It also had me looking at a search for 'lion'. Honestly, from the first 14 of the top all time images for an actual African lion, 13 are AI.

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/wildlife+2 (Joined June 24 - 100 images)
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/MyBestCollection (Joined August 24 - 337 images)
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Tanveer+Anjum+Towsif (Joined May 2019 - 1024 images 1022 since June 2024)
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/dreamframephotography (Joined May 2024 - 297 images)
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/woravit+thongpolyos (Joined June 2024 - 168 images)
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/MuhammadHanif1 (Joined May 2024 - 883 images)
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/notrod69 (Joined Jan 2023 - 2 images)
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/mibaba+project (Joined June 2024 - 427 images)
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Zakir61 (Joined June 2024 - 588 images)

That's nearly 4k images added in the last few months. How are these getting through the review process when anyone can see that they are AI?

Going further down the 1st page:

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/XerxOG
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/yasar_701
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Piysho
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/ben_mbark_
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/aftabchoudhary786
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/abdullah+barea+ahnad
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/BANDZRIO
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/shehriyar+ahmed
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Maksim+Nafikov
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/HMSTRX
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Sameer+Neamah+Mahdi
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Noor+Rahman+Masood
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/DILEEP.+E
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Bulldozzzer


This is 1 page of one subject, so how widespread is this problem?

Shutterstock, please give us all a fair chance here, and either enforce your rules or let us all flood the site with AI images.

The https://www.shutterstock.com/g/dreamframephotography appears to be generating Freepik AI and uploading to SS.

Add junk AI descriptions and keywords on top.

Mountains so beautiful he doesnt know where he is, a tiger keyworded as leopard, a lion keyworded as plant.

It's pretty obvious that the images are AI, and the metadata is also AI generated, by the looks of it, but that should be a bit of a giveaway to reviewers, (if they still exist at Shutterstock).

Regarding the contributor you've specifically mentioned, he also posted a screenshot of a Single and Other sale, with a commission of $105. Doing a rough calculation based upon his months active and other screenshots of sale that he's posted, he's probably a level 4 contributor. I wonder how happy the customer will be if they realise that they paid $350 for a photo that isn't even real?

But this guy aside, the whole site is awash with AI coming up at the top of all searches.


I've checked for a few subjects with random keywords, and it's the same, whatever the topic, from 'hamburger' to 'polar bear'. You can find the culprits very quickly, and even from just those two searches I've come across:

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Asifphotographer1
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/SofieLion9
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Sabilicious
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Jee+Mang
https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Hasso-13

That's another 5 portfolios found in 5 minutes, and they go on and on, with one leading to another in the similar or recommended images.

Again, it does raise the question as to whether Shutterstock are happy to just let this slide through, and will just deal with any customer complaints if they get them.

How can you tell the images are Gen AI other than their unlikely perfection? I�m genuinely interested.