Image with AI photo or illustration?

I had the same doubt a while back and ended up keeping mine under “illustration” even though they looked super realistic, since they weren’t captured with a camera. Some platforms are starting to crack down on AI in the photo category, so better safe than sorry. I once used an image to prompt tool to check how others would tag my work, and it gave me some clarity. I wouldn’t delete the ones under review just yet—maybe wait and see if they’re accepted before changing anything.

Just a quick clarification. I stated that labeling an image has less affect on searches but that's not entirely true, since buyers can select whether they want Illustrations only, Photos only, etc. So this is another reason why you need to be as forthright as possible when choosing one or the other. At small preview sizes, AI images can look quite photorealistic but become more recognizable as illustrations or obvious AI once purchased and viewed at full size. 

If it does in fact appear to be an actual photograph taken with a camera, label it as a photograph. But I avoid using the word photograph in the title or the keywords, since it's not. The Photos/Illustrations label, I believe, is of more use to the moderators and how assets are queued up than it has to do with searches. If you label what is clearly an AI illustration as a photograph, you could be placing yourself ahead in the queue and pushing out somone who has a REAL photograph waiting to be reviewed. At least that's my guess.

That said, there was a recent thread along these lines asking, what if it's difficult to determine if it's a photograph or an illustration? To which I replied, when in doubt, select Illustration.