AI-generated images found to make more money on Adobe Stock compared to 'real' counterparts

The stock media analysis group Stock Performer has hailed Adobe Stock as the site of an "AI goldmine", concluding that images of a 'generative' nature have done better on the platform in some respects. The website has released these conclusions in the course of its latest blog post on data from 2022 to now.

Stock Performer estimates that AI-generated images are thus now associated with an average revenue per image per month (RPI/m) of ~4.5x greater than those from 'non-synthetic' sources, or US$0.17 for the former compared to US$0.0375 for the latter.

Furthermore, AI's revenue per download (RPD) was calculated at ~1.59x that of non-AI sources on Adobe Stock: US$1.94, compared to that of "any other file" at US$1.22. On the other hand, the sell-through rate (STR, or actual percentage of images with at least 1 sale) remains at 13% for all content, whereas it drops to 9% when corrected for synthetic media.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that this is hardly definitive proof of an all-out AI take-over in stock photo sales, as data collection on this subject is only just getting started. In addition, the study is based on a subset of Adobe Stock users who are also Stock Performer customers.

Then again, of the 13% of that group who use AI, those who uploaded at least 1 synthetic image fall into 2 main categories: those whose non-synthetic content still makes up about 90% of their uploads, and those who seem to have nearly exclusively switched to generators, without much middle ground. That observation may or may not be interpreted as meaning that 'real' photography in commercial stock imagery is in decline.

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