Images of AI-generated humans aren’t exactly a new concept. But now, they’re available for licensing for the first time ever. VAIsual and PantherMedia have announced the availability to legally license 100% synthetically generated stock images.
VAIsual is a technology company pioneering algorithms and solutions to generate high-quality synthetic media. It was founded by Michael Osterrieder and Nico Menijes, along with business industry veterans Istvan Novak and Mark Milstein. In collaboration with Germany’s leading microstock photo agency Panther Media GmbH, the company is now offering licensable images of AI-generated humans.
VAIsual’s library of synthetic human portraits is available for download on Smarterpix. Since each picture is generated with a green screen, you can merge these synthetic elements with real-life photos in the background to create the results that you need. Some of the photos are highly believable. However, you will not see many smiling faces. There is no reason given behind this, but I assume it’s because AI often fails to faithfully generate human teeth. On the other hand, some images are a little… Well, unfinished. “Our portrait library contains an ever-growing volume of diverse faces, ages, ethnicities, and genders,” Osterrieder said. “We are aggressively working on our next phase of development and will shortly begin generating full-body images of humans.” The advantage of these AI-generated portraits is that they don’t require model releases. So, they can be used in any context and for any purpose. The first thing that comes to mind are headshots of people who write testimonies on various websites. Since those testimonies are usually fake with a stock photo next to them, it will be perfect to also include photos of fake, non-existing people. But of course, these AI portraits can also find their application in all sorts of commercial images. On the other hand, not all applications are useful or harmless. AI-generated portraits could be used in all kinds of scams, for creating fake profiles, spreading fake news, etc. For example, remember when Facebook removed almost a thousand fake profiles, pages, and groups? All of them used AI-generated images to push political, mainly right-wing campaigns. All in all, there are two sides to each coin, and this one is no exception. Still, if AI-generated images really find their use, I hope they will be more useful than harmful.
