SAN JOSE: In news no snapper or shutterbug wants to hear, Google and Scandinavian publisher Bonnier News have published research showing that artificial intelligence-generated images are proving more popular than real photographs.
After teaming up to develop a product called BonsAI, Bonnier and the Google News Initiative found in tests that the imagery it churns out usually gets higher click-through rates (CTR) than photos.
"Early results show BonsAI-generated images significantly outperform stock images in ads," Bonnier and Google said in a joint statement, adding that "in several cases, the AI images delivered an astounding 100% improvement in CTR over the original images."
While they do not advocate for the use of AI-conjured images with news articles, the Google-Bonnier tie-up follows the rapid uptake of AI by some news organisations.
By mid-2023, around half of newsrooms were using chatbots, according to a World Association of Publishers (WAN-IFRA) survey.
If publishers are tempted to use AI fakes ahead of photos, it could put an end to many photographers' hopes of making ends meet.
Getty Images, which provides news photos and stock through its iStock offering, recently agreed a US$3.7bil (RM16.3bil) merger with Shutterstock.
The announcement was greeted with criticism in some quarters, with commentators on social media nicknaming the new entity as "Gutterstock."
In a joint statement, the two companies said the tie-up is aimed at meeting "evolving needs of creative, media and advertising industries through combined investment in content creation, event coverage and product and technology innovation."
Another aim, they said, is to generate "annual cost synergies between US$150mil (RM664mil) and US$200mil (RM885mil) by year three." As it stands, photographers who upload to either platform can end up getting as little as US$0.10 (RM0.44) per image sale, depending on the terms and exclusivity rights. – dpa
