Issues with AI-generated content on Adobe Stock

[Steampunk Explorer]

I use Adobe Stock for a website that covers steampunk news. I also run profiles of steampunk artists. Many artists in the steampunk world are up in arms about generative AI. Some have day jobs as designers and illustrators and see this as an existential threat to their livelihoods.

That's not hyperbole. I know a mid-career designer/illustrator who has been asking friends for advice about making a career change. Then, of course, are all the issues surrounding how the AI models were trained (using copyrighted images on the web). As a result, I have publicly stated that I will NOT use AI-generated content on my site unless its for articles ABOUT generative AI.

Here are the problems as this relates to Adobe Stock: First, the Adobe Stock interface offers no way to filter out AI-generated images, which means I'm wasting a lot of time looking at images I won't use due to my policy. Second, not all AI-generated images are clearly labeled as such. Some have tags that say "AI," but otherwise there's no indication in the description. Third, some images look suspiciously like AI-generated images but there's no label or tag at all. This all has me seriously considering dropping the service when it comes up for renewal.

Some proponents of generative AI have defended it with the claim that using prompts to create artwork is itself an artistic skill. But it's ridiculously easy to create steampunk imagery in Midjourney and other programs - all you have to do is take a subject and modify it with "steampunk," as in "Edgar Allan Poe as a steampunk." So we're seeing a glut of these images on social media, and when I search for steampunk or dieselpunk artwork on Adobe Stock, the search results are now flooded with AI-generated images. This has significantly reduced the value of the service in my eyes.

[Abambo]

Couldn't agree more. Adobe Stock is filled with AI generated images now. As you rightly point out, not all of them are tagged, so using the filter has only a limited effect. Genuinely don't think Adobe shold be supporting or showing AI generated art in any form at all. 

By @twinbrush

Well, that train has left the station. Generative AI is selling very well. And most of it should by now be correctly labeled. And as this thread is from March and since then a lot of changes came by, I will lock this thread as not all information here is still valid.