AI to Find the Perfect Stock Image for a Campaign, IBM and Shutterstock Make It a Reality

AI to Find the Perfect Stock Image for a Campaign, IBM and Shutterstock Make It a Reality

After companies such as Nvidia demonstrating how artificial intelligence could change the world of imagery, it’s time for Shutterstock and IBM to get in the game. No Photoshop witchcraft here, but a way to make the life of marketers easier and make stock photography sexy again.

While AI is slowly making its way into the imagery world, most of the demonstrations we’ve seen so far were about editing pictures automatically in some way. The use of AI that Shutterstock and IBM will start offering in July of this year is entirely different. Until now, when marketers had to find a picture for a new media campaign, they’d either hire a photographer or find a stock image. The latter is usually less expensive, but it requires a lot of time: going through the million of images Shutterstock has to offer and finding the perfect one is no easy task. This is where IBM comes in!

Watson Content hub customers will be able to take advantage of the IBM platform’s AI to find the perfect image. The artificial intelligence will go through the current content of the company found in the content management system, and learn all about it. With that knowledge the marketers will easily find relevant content to create their campaigns, potentially leading to better results in terms of click rates, views, etc.

Furthermore, to make the experience as seamless as possible and to help marketers save time, the Shutterstock editor will be accessible through Watson Content hub interface. So there'll be no need to export the image to crop it, add filters or text. All can be done easily without leaving the hub interface.

Amongst the companies that rely on Watson Content hub, we find  Amadori  Group,  American  Eagle  Outfitters,  Boots,  Ermes,  Moosejaw  Mountaineering,  Office  Brands,  Performance Bicycle and REI. It’ll be interesting to see if the addition of AI will make more ad agencies turn to this platform. As for photographers, I’m wondering if this will change anything. Would companies use more stock pictures because it’d become easier to find the perfect image? I’m not sure, but it may actually be the case and give a new life to stock platforms.

For more information on the partnership, visit Shutterstock's blog.

What do you think of this new partnership between the two brands? Do you feel like AI used in this way will change anything for photographers or is it only exciting for marketers? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.


 

Quentin Decaillet's picture

Quentin Décaillet is a photographer and retoucher based in Switzerland specializing in portrait and wedding photography.

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3 Comments

Until recently the right image would be selected by a professional using his experience and instincts. Humans will be less and less relevant as tech moves forward.

Don't you think it just frees time for more relevant tasks? Having the choice between millions of images or just a couple of relevant ones is a huge time saver, leaving time for people to concentrate on the design of the campaign or its concept instead.

Do you think the price of images from shutterstock are reasonable? I was thinking to buy some for my website - https://psegli.us/ and need your opinion.