Does Affinity Photo or Designer use AI algorithms?

[DeepDesertPhoto]

I was wondering if Affinity Photo or Designer uses any AI based algorithms or other coding that mimic AI processing.

The reason for the question is because lately some of the stock photo agencies I sell my work thru have been rejecting my illustrations on suspicion that they were AI Generated.

All of my recent illustrations and photo manipulations were created using Affinity Photo.

When I contacted one of the agencies and asked why they thought my illustrations were AI generated one of them said that according to their analysis of the image the layers were processed in a way that appeared to be AI generated.

I told them that I was using Affinity Photo and to my knowledge it is not an AI Generative program, but just a photo editing program.

Am I wrong? Does Affinity use AI based algorithms for certain tools or functions?

I need to know because if AI is involved I might have trouble selling some of my work because many of the agencies I deal with don't accept AI generated images.

[Affinityconfusesme]

Affinity does not have AI yet but will have it soon, and only selection, not generative.

[DeepDesertPhoto]

1 hour ago, Affinityconfusesme said:

Affinity does not have AI yet but will have it soon, and only selection, not generative.

If that is true, then why would one of the agencies I sell my work thru say that their analysis of my illustrations have detected AI processing?

Is it possible that AP is using some algorithms or coding that is similar to what is used in other AI programs?

[walt.farrell]

35 minutes ago, DeepDesertPhoto said:

If that is true, then why would one of the agencies I sell my work thru say that their analysis of my illustrations have detected AI processing?

Is it possible that AP is using some algorithms or coding that is similar to what is used in other AI programs?

Perhaps their AI detector has been trained on images similar to yours, or the AIs they're detecting have been trained on such images.

[PaoloT]

So, the machines are starting to pretend that they are the originals, and we the clones?

 

[DeepDesertPhoto]

3 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Perhaps their AI detector has been trained on images similar to yours, or the AIs they're detecting have been trained on such images.

I don't know. The person I corresponded with just said that it was the way the layers were processed that triggered their alert. Since I don't know how the processing actually works I can only assume that there is something in the AP algorithms that is similar to the ones used in AI programs.

I just know that illustrations that were not a problem years ago are now being scrutinized more closely.

Adobe Stock actually requires that I certify my work is not being generated by AI. They also warn that my account can be suspended if it is proven that my submitted image was generated by AI.

That is why I am concerned about whether or not Affinity is using AI based algorithms for certain processing functions, because apparently there is something in the image I made using Affinity that they are detecting and mistaking for AI.

[walt.farrell]

10 hours ago, DeepDesertPhoto said:

The person I corresponded with just said that it was the way the layers were processed that triggered their alert.

What kind of file did you give them? And I'm surprised that any files generated by AI would have layers at all.

The Affinity suite is definitely not using AI yet.

[PaulEC]

It seems strange that Adobe should have a problem with using assistive AI in the creation of your own artwork, considering that they, apparently, use it extensively in their own software. I would assume that they are more concerned about "original" work that is generated using AI, rather than the use of AI to, say, cut out an object, or remove it using inpainting. (Which are things that are often requested to be included in Affinity.)

[Obscured]

.

[DeepDesertPhoto]

20 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

What kind of file did you give them? And I'm surprised that any files generated by AI would have layers at all.

The Affinity suite is definitely not using AI yet.

Sorry for the late reply. I was gone all day on a photo trip.

To answer your question, here is a link for an illustration I created using Affinity Photo that was accepted by Adobe.

https://stock.adobe.com/stock-photo/id/814166006

However, the same image was rejected by DepositPhotos with them stating that they don't accept AI Generated images, even though I stated to them that I did not use an AI program. I've included a screenshot from DepositPhotos showing the rejection and their reason.

[DeepDesertPhoto]

20 hours ago, PaulEC said:

It seems strange that Adobe should have a problem with using assistive AI in the creation of your own artwork, considering that they, apparently, use it extensively in their own software. I would assume that they are more concerned about "original" work that is generated using AI, rather than the use of AI to, say, cut out an object, or remove it using inpainting. (Which are things that are often requested to be included in Affinity.)

Adobe simply requires that I certify that my illustrations are not AI created. So far they've only rejected one image out of dozens I've sent them.
The agencies I'm having problems with are "RooM" and "DepositPhotos. I've been a contributor with them since 2006, and had no problems until recently.
I think they're afraid of lawsuits and if an image has any data in it that remotely looks like it was made by AI they would rather reject the image than ask me if it was AI created.

[DeepDesertPhoto]

20 hours ago, Return said:

It's because Adobe and other big companies are using (relying on their) AI to scan the images or whatever get's online now and this will give false positives.
It is a reversed world we live in that a creator needs to prove that he/she didn't use AI to create.😒
 

Unfortunately, AI Generative programs are growing, and I think the older stock photography agencies are struggling to come up with ways to deal with it that won't falsely accuse the artist of using AI.

[carl123]

This website claims to be able to identify AI generated images

https://www.aiornot.com/

You may be able to use it to prove your images are not AI generated

There is a 10 image free trial

Alternatively, send them a copy of your Affinity document. Or activate wireframe(?) mode and send them a screenshot with all your layers showing. Hopefully someone there will have some experience with the Affinity software

[carl123]

12 minutes ago, DeepDesertPhoto said:

I think they're afraid of lawsuits and if an image has any data in it that remotely looks like it was made by AI they would rather reject the image than ask me if it was AI created.

If every attempt to convince them fails, turn the tables on them and threaten them with a lawsuit, citing defamation, denial of service, damaging your livelihood etc

If a news agency runs with the story, then the publicity of an artist trying to prove he is human should at least get you and your work noticed to a greater audience

PS Needless to say speak to a lawyer first as things could get messy (and costly) if say, they decided to simply close your existing accounts with them

[Alfred]

14 minutes ago, carl123 said:

There is a 10 image free trial

It’s better than a free trial: it’s a free plan, apparently.

Quote

10 AI or Not Image checks monthly

Edited to add: The button for signing up does say ‘Try for free’ rather than ‘Get started’, which makes me wonder whether it’s really a monthly plan, but I’m not inclined to sign up just to find out!

Edited May 30, 2024 by Alfred

[carl123]

1 hour ago, Alfred said:

Edited to add: The button for signing up does say ‘Try for free’ rather than ‘Get started’, which makes me wonder whether it’s really a monthly plan, but I’m not inclined to sign up just to find out!

I signed up and all it asks for is an email, name and password.

They then send a code to that email, which you enter to activate your free account

No other information is required to get your 10 free monthly image checks

[William Overington]

Perhaps at some future time an enterprising company will offer a generative AI program together with all the images and associated metadata upon which it has been trained, all of the art being fully licensed with all of the licences published too.

Maybe that will be a Canva product.

William

 

[DeepDesertPhoto]

6 hours ago, carl123 said:

If every attempt to convince them fails, turn the tables on them and threaten them with a lawsuit, citing defamation, denial of service, damaging your livelihood etc

If a news agency runs with the story, then the publicity of an artist trying to prove he is human should at least get you and your work noticed to a greater audience

PS Needless to say speak to a lawyer first as things could get messy (and costly) if say, they decided to simply close your existing accounts with them

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't make enough money from these sites to make it worth calling a lawyer. Especially since it is only my illustrations that they are having issues with. Most of my work is nature and landscape photography. I only do illustrations on the side when I run out of photos to work on. I'm not going to sue over an image rejection that I can most likely sell thru another agency that's not as picky.

My original posting was just a question as to whether Affinity uses AI based algorithms since some photography and art related agencies are getting more picky about this stuff.

[DeepDesertPhoto]

2 hours ago, William Overington said:

Perhaps at some future time an enterprising company will offer a generative AI program together with all the images and associated metadata upon which it has been trained, all of the art being fully licensed with all of the licences published too.

Maybe that will be a Canva product.

William

 

That's possible. But I prefer to create my own illustrations and photo manipulations the old fashioned way. In my opinion, unless you're a high volume producer and need to produce large numbers of illustrations and manipulations in a short period of time, using AI is just being lazy and takes away the enjoyment of doing the work yourself. There is a certain satisfaction in showing that you have the creative skill to make something from your imagination instead of having an AI do it simply based on typed instructions.

[Callum]

On 5/29/2024 at 1:39 AM, DeepDesertPhoto said:

I don't know. The person I corresponded with just said that it was the way the layers were processed that triggered their alert. Since I don't know how the processing actually works I can only assume that there is something in the AP algorithms that is similar to the ones used in AI programs.

I just know that illustrations that were not a problem years ago are now being scrutinized more closely.

Adobe Stock actually requires that I certify my work is not being generated by AI. They also warn that my account can be suspended if it is proven that my submitted image was generated by AI.

That is why I am concerned about whether or not Affinity is using AI based algorithms for certain processing functions, because apparently there is something in the image I made using Affinity that they are detecting and mistaking for AI.

As others have mentioned we don't currently use AI in Affinity however did you happen to use Topaz plugins when creating this image? I had quick look online regarding this and it seems that DepositPhotos's AI detector can reject images that have been processed using Topaz sharpen AI.

As a side note it seems strange to me that the representative mentioned layer processing being the issue when you uploaded a .JPG so no layers should have been present within the file.

[DeepDesertPhoto]

25 minutes ago, Callum said:

As others have mentioned we don't currently use AI in Affinity however did you happen to use Topaz plugins when creating this image? I had quick look online regarding this and it seems that DepositPhotos's AI detector can reject images that have been processed using Topaz sharpen AI.

As a side note it seems strange to me that the representative mentioned layer processing being the issue when you uploaded a .JPG so no layers should have been present within the file.

I don't have Topaz, or any other plugins. I recently updated from AP2.4.2 to AP2.5, so whatever is in it is whatever came with the update.

The only other program I have is Upscayl, which was recommended to me in a separate thread about converting rasterized images to vector for the purpose of scaling up to a larger size.

Right now the illustrations I'm working on are old that I originally created between 2005 and 2012 using Photoshop. They are under 2000 pixels so I have been using Upscayl to enlarge them. I found that Upscayl does a good job at enlarging an image without creating distortions.

After the enlargement, I then place the image into a new canvas layer using Affinity Photo. The new layer is in ROMM RGB 32 Bit color.

After I use Affinity Photo to make some modifications to the image, using the tools already in AP, I then flatten the layer and export it as a JPG to upload to the sites I sell thru.

The representative from RooM, told me that after additional examination they now realize that the image was not AI created, but for some reason the layer processing done by Affinity triggered the algorithms they use to prescreen the submitted images. They told me to make sure I state in the description of the image that it is not AI.

It's the same with Adobe. They require that I certify that any images I submit were not created by AI.

I am still having problems with DepositPhotos, however. They are being very obstinate about this issue.

Arguing with them is pointless because they have a policy that if an image is flagged as AI generated it cannot be resubmitted, even after I explained to them how I created it.

[Obscured]

.

[DeepDesertPhoto]

1 hour ago, Return said:

upscayl is an AI tool

Upscayl does not create anything. It only enlarges an existing image. That's not much different than other enlargement tools such as the program "Genuine Fractals" which has been used for years without being questioned. And like I mentioned, I place the enlarged image into a new layer within Affinity Photo where I make additional modifications using AP's tools, which are not AI according to Callum, who is a staff member.

[walt.farrell]

7 minutes ago, DeepDesertPhoto said:

Upscayl does not create anything. It only enlarges an existing image. That's not much different than other enlargement tools such as the program "Genuine Fractals" which has been used for years without being questioned.

But you do not know how "they" are determining that AI was used. You need to have that discussion with them, or you'll have to simply accept that they may reject some or all of your images for unknown reasons.

[MEB]

23 minutes ago, DeepDesertPhoto said:

Upscayl does not create anything. It only enlarges an existing image. That's not much different than other enlargement tools such as the program "Genuine Fractals" which has been used for years without being questioned. And like I mentioned, I place the enlarged image into a new layer within Affinity Photo where I make additional modifications using AP's tools, which are not AI according to Callum, who is a staff member.

Hi @DeepDesertPhoto,
It's quite possible that Upscayl is what's triggering the warnings. The only thing I can suggest is to enlarge the image through traditional methods (resampling algorithms), edit the image to your heart's content, then submit it and check if it still triggers the warnings.