Opportunities for Stock Image Industry in AI Era

The stock image industry is a rapidly evolving industry. Some form of computer powers every design software. As a result, there are a variety of strategies for improving information processing. Illustration creation is always evolving as a result of new technology and equipment. The addition of artificial intelligence is the most recent game-changing advancement in the stock image industry. As illustrators, we are constantly seeking new and innovative methods to advance our profession. It can be challenging to determine what technology is worth investing in and what will be obsolete in a few months as new technology emerges every day.

It is safe to say that the stock image industry’s future is evolving. With the emergence of AI-assisted editing tools like Lightroom, Photoshop, and Luminar, to mention a few, the days of manually changing lighting, saturation, or other settings are gradually actually dying. With the help of these tools, editing images is simple and doesn’t require any special abilities or understanding of how to use editing software or even a camera in some circumstances. But does that indicate that you need to apply it?

AI gives reliable results since it is familiar with the stock image industry’s environment. If DeepMind machine learning was applied to photography, you could hypothetically construct a system that captures fantastic photographs! In practice, no program exists that possesses the formula for flawless framing and composition. However, AI covers a vast amount of processes that would be time-consuming for humans to correct. In a nutshell, AI is here to boost our productivity.

Manufacturers have been incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into photography for several years now. If you own a smartphone, you already have access to a range of AI technologies. For example, AI in photography comprises your camera’s computer recognizing specific scenes. As a result of this recognition, the application automatically modifies the image.

Whereas 360° shots, VR, and 3D visuals were the big thing a few years ago, AI-generated images will be all the rage very soon in the stock image industry. The most recent visual technology enables anyone to create astonishingly realistic images that were not taken with a camera or technically flawless paintings that were not painted by someone but rather were generated by a computer from text descriptions. AI-generated art is gaining acceptance in the stock media sector as a completely new genre of artwork, offering new issues and creating openings for new software solutions to solve.

Now, we’ll look at the current state of AI and its role in the stock image industry. See also, AI and the future of digital art and illustrations

Impact on Arts

AI has undoubtedly impacted nearly all sectors and industries in recent years. However, it is frequently argued that its impact on art has not been as significant as it has been in other areas. However, there have been certain instances in the stock image industry. AI has been recognized to have an impact on the field of photography and the stock image industry. However, a good number of possibilities and opportunities are still unexplored.

The development in the field of AI and other technologies in the upcoming years is predicted to have a significant impact on photography as well. The effect is not going to be limited to clicking the pictures only but will spill over to image editing too. Most advances in the photography and the stock image industry in recent years have been related to software rather than lenses and sensors. The majority of these advancements have been driven by artificial intelligence.

AI in Photography

Photography is an ancient form of art. One of the most useful things photography can do is capture a moment and keep it forever. However, photography software and other relevant technology and involved gadgets that have been in use for a few years are destined to be improved more and more. This advancement will be made possible by the incorporation of AI and its use in the photography and stock image industry. The application of AI in photography is most likely limited to photo editing.

It does, however, play a function in the photographing process. If you work in photography or the stock image industry, your job does not finish when you click the shutter. After you’ve taken the photograph, you should concentrate on improving it and presenting it to your audience in the greatest way possible. This can be accomplished by properly altering, modifying, and editing the image. And for that, there is a plethora of AI-enabled software accessible these days.

Replacing the Repetitive Tasks

It is not possible to deny the fact that most of the tasks and processes performed in image editing are repetitive. If you have a lot of images of the same kind for the stock image industry, a lot of tasks that are part of the editing have to be done on each image one by one. In such situations, AI comes in handy. Photographers use some artificial intelligence tools to perform these repetitive tasks.

These tasks can be done by machine learning, which can do all editing in one click and provide the best possible results. In this way, the photographer’s job becomes quite easy with the help of AI and they do not have to spend hours editing all pictures one by one before presenting the images to the audiencs.

Capturing the Right Emotions at the Right Time

There are numerous other AI-driven photography programs available in addition to those that aid in finishing repetitious activities. Some of them contain an algorithm that can recognize well-known emotions. They assist in identifying these feelings and taking images at the appropriate times to capture the priceless moments. Software that uses AI for photography is also taught using machine learning. As a result, the software analyzes the settings of the environment with its previous records before taking the pictures. This helps AI-powered photography software in determining the ideal camera settings. You receive the highest-quality photographs for the stock image industry as a result.

Enhancing the Quality of Pictures

It may look like artificial intelligence can replace the photography or stock image industry as a whole. However, this is not entirely true or even possible for now. Photography and photographers are going to maintain their place. As it is said that a camera does not make a person photographer; similarly, owning the technology can’t make a person photographer.

The stock image industry will somehow need someone to capture real-life images. Even though artificial intelligence can’t wipe out photographers but it surely can help them to present better quality photos to use in day-to-day life. All of this quality is possible due to the advancement in AI and its presence in various photo editing software. When AI is combined with photography, stock images used in businesses are also likely to be of higher quality.

Clicking Better Pictures with Mobile Phones

With your mobile devices, you are probably going to have some fantastic options for taking images. The photo modes, including portrait, landscape, and others, are all yours to choose from. In addition, you may discover that the mobile camera itself is capable of identifying faces in pictures, adding textures, sharpening, highlighting, and shadows, and even enhancing colors. You can perform all of these tasks because of your mobile device’s AI-powered image-clicking software.

How Will AI Technology Affect Illustrators?

AI is beneficial to illustrators and the stock image industry in many ways since it allows them to create better visuals and graphics with less time and effort. The issue is that if we rely too heavily on AI, we will be unable to grow as humans or improve our creative talents. One way around this is to combine human and machine aspects while creating graphic resources so that they work together to make the best art possible. As an illustrator, you’re probably wondering if AI will eventually take your career. The simple answer is no, we require the human perspective in all aspects, but the prolonged answer may be a little more nuanced.

AI can be applied to the stock image industry and overall creative market in a variety of ways. It can, for example, help in identifying colors, objects, elements, and small details in different artworks that most people would never notice on their own. This allows amateur illustrators to make better graphics without spending too much time manually creating them by hand. Although technology cannot just yet replace professional illustrators and graphic designers with years of experience in the stock image industry, it will change how they work over time.

What’s in Store for the Future of AI-driven Arts and Vectors?

There is no doubt that the number of artificial intelligence-based vector illustration creating and editing tools is going to increase in near future. The AI of the software is going to be more accurate with each coming day. These tools will also go to enhance and add a lot more features besides the already existing features. From retouching vectors to changing backgrounds and erasing undesired items, AI technology is expected to move the graphic resources industry forward by leaps and bounds.

As a result, as an illustrator from the stock image industry, you must familiarise yourself with AI-driven technologies and features in the digital world. Only then you will be able to take advantage of these new features and benefit from them. Once you’ve mastered the AI-driven characteristics of digital art, you can be confident that the vector illustrations you create and sell will attract the attention of your audience and buyers.

Last Thoughts

It’s difficult to predict what the future holds for photographers of the stock image industry and post-production artists, but now might be a good time to think about how you can embrace AI technology. There are numerous advantages of employing artificial intelligence in photography. It can, for example, save you hours or even days of work if your images require retouching before they are forwarded to clients or posted on social media. But how do we know when it’s time to stop modifying an image?

Will there be a day when AI post-processing completely replaces the necessity for editing and correcting manually? Do we want a world like that? What does this mean for learning technical skills like Photoshop or Lightroom when AI will be able to handle all those processes for us? Is technical education no longer necessary now that AI can complete all tasks with no assistance from humans?

There may be times when you fear that AI may disrupt the photography industry or stock image industry. It is not true, though. Like much other technology, AI is also likely to provide several advantages to photographers that can help them and make their jobs easier. However, the photographer is ultimately responsible for deciding how to incorporate AI into their work. If AI is used in the right way in photography, the quality of images that are delivered to the customers and the audience is going to increase significantly. In short, photography is going to become smarter, more appealing, more cinematic, and more intelligent with the help of AI.