INTERVIEW: Alessandra Sala, senior director of AI & Data Science at Shutterstock, highlighted the transformative impact of AI on the creative industry, emphasising the company’s commitment to ethical business practises and AI-driven content personalisation.
Sala highlighted generative AI’s (genAI) growing role in Shutterstock’s ecosystem, touting it as a game-changer for creatives. “Not that everyone is an artist and can create beautiful images, but through AI we can give voice to many more ideas and opportunities in the world,” she stated. Furthermore, professionals can harness the technology to cut production time, improve scalability, and boost creativity.
The Shutterstock chief also spotlighted the company’s embedded AI tools across its platform, designed to ensure efficient content generation and discovery through AI-powered personalisation. According to Sala, the company has developed advanced recommendation systems that understand users’ intent and refine search results based on visual preferences. “Now, we have an ability to understand people and their visual interests at a much deeper level,” she explained.
However, AI’s rapid integration comes with ethical challenges. Shutterstock has adopted a business model that compensates artists for contributing to AI-generated content. “We have created a circular economy that brings back royalty revenue share into the artistic community, so they have the incentive to continue to contribute to the world of AI,” Sala said.
Concerns around misinformation and deepfake images also remain at the forefront. Shutterstock is collaborating with global organisations, including the ITU, to develop standards that distinguish and identify AI-generated images.
On regulation, Sala welcomed initiatives like the EU AI Act, viewing it as essential for safety and inclusivity. She emphasised that regulatory constraints enable innovation while ensuring companies “can leverage this technology to be a propeller of economic growth without leaving parts of our society behind”.
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