Podcast: Shutterstock is embracing AI and 3D

The appetite for content has never been bigger according to Shutterstock CEO Stan Pavlovsky. In fact, we spend seven hours a day consuming online media, according to research firm DoubleVerify.

It’s never been a better time to be a content creator but trying to find the right image or video can be difficult with millions of assets to wade through. Shutterstock alone has half a billion assets available to customers.

“We have such a huge appetite for content. And then from a creator perspective, there are more tools than ever to allow everybody to be a creator,” said Stan.

The democratisation of content is driving growth. What used to be limited to very large companies with photographers and creatives on staff is now no longer a requirement for small businesses to be able to grow their audience and be very successful.

And from the point of view of creators, they have access to a global audience. Stan gave the example of Shutterstock artist Angelina Bandita based in St. Petersburg. He explained that she used to work for an agency and had limited reach but now has a global platform and is in fact one of the most popular creators on the site right now.

Content discovery is king

This explosion in the availability of content online had shifted Shutterstock’s strategy to include content discovery using artificial intelligence.

“Historically [our strategy] was based on having a very large content library. Today it’s based on content recommendations leveraging artificial intelligence. It’s [also] about bringing 3D content to people who otherwise could never develop that content,” he said.

An amphibious creature designed by renowned monster modeler Cecoaliensa. Made in #3dsMax and includes rigging and morph controlled expressions. On sale now! https://t.co/S1zwjy7Nvl pic.twitter.com/9eKHKAW13s

— TurboSquid by Shutterstock (@TurboSquid) March 25, 2022

“The internet is beginning to become much more immersive. And I think 3d is a big part of that. We acquired a company called TurboSquid to covert for this growing demand,” added Stan.

Stan Pavlovsky, CEO of Shutterstock, was in conversation with Alexandros Ntolgkov, partnership manager at BeinCrypto, on the Creatiff stage at Web Summit 2021.

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Main image: Web Summit.