Photocrowd's AI image policy

This policy will continue to evolve. If you have suggestions or comments to make about it, please email support@photocrowd.com and we’ll be glad to hear from you.

Last updated 29/5/25


Overview

  • Photocrowd’s policy on AI imagery is designed to embrace this exciting image-making technology, whilst also protecting and sustaining our beloved practice of taking photographs with cameras.
  • So whilst photo-realistic AI-generated and AI-augmented imagery can now be uploaded to Photocrowd, it must be categorised as such, and will be clearly labelled anywhere it is displayed. In addition, anyone viewing Photocrowd has the option to turn AI imagery on or off depending on whether they want to see it or not on particular pages.
  • By allowing AI imagery on the site, but clearly labelled, there is less incentive to mislabel AI-generated imagery as photography, and we are better able to provide a space within which traditional photography with cameras can be appreciated, practised and trusted.
  • Our Community Moderators will spot-check images regularly and ask for verification of an image's categorisation. Members who cannot provide the required verification and are therefore assumed to have labelled AI-generated images as photos taken with a camera will have their accounts deactivated, to ensure trust in this system.

Image categories

Photocrowd now recognises three categories of image:

(1) Photos

An image taken using a digital camera, smartphone camera or film camera, and with no AI-generated elements within it.

(2) AI-generated images

An image entirely generated by AI software such as Midjourney, DALL-E or Adobe Firefly, and containing no elements taken with a digital camera, smartphone camera or film camera.

(3) AI-augmented images

An image combining elements taken using a digital camera, smartphone camera or film camera, with elements generated by AI software such as Photoshop Generative Fill, Midjourney or DALL-E


Categorising images

Once an image has been categorised by the owner, it is considered to be 'authenticated'.

  • All new images uploaded to Photocrowd must now be authenticated during the upload flow.
  • Images uploaded to Photocrowd before this policy was adopted will need to be authenticated before they can be entered into a contest. This authentication process will happen automatically when a contest entry is attempted.
  • Images can also be authenticated on your Manage Images page. This can be done for individual images, and there is also a tool that allows you to batch-authenticate all your currently unauthenticated images and categorise them as photos with no AI augmentation or AI generation involved. Before using this tool it is very important that all AI-generated or AI-augmented images are manually authenticated as such, so that they are not mis-categorised.

Confirming image ownership

All images, whether taken with a camera or generated using AI software, must have been created solely by the person uploading them. For AI imagery this means that the prompts must have been written solely by the person uploading the image.


What retouching is permitted before an image should be labelled as AI-augmented

Retouching your images and using software that automates the retouching process is not considered AI-augmentation in most cases, even when the software is described as being "AI-powered".

Editing that is not considered as AI-augmentation, even if the software is AI-powered, includes:

  • alterations to contrast, brightness, sharpness etc
  • noise reduction
  • removing or cloning out of image elements
  • the removal of backgrounds and the masking of elements

Editing that would be considered as AI-augmentation is that which introduces new image elements into an image that were not shot by you, such as:

  • using 'generative fill' to add a new element to your image, or to complete or extend an existing element
  • using 'generative fill' to grow your image beyond its current edges
  • replacing the sky in your image for a different one not shot by you

NOTE: In the past an image with a sky replacement would be removed from Photocrowd as it contains someone else's image within yours, which breaches our terms. Because it will be increasingly difficult to distinguish an AI-generated sky replacement from a sky replacement using someone else's image, sky replacements will now all be considered as a 'photo with AI-generated elements added' ie AI-augmented.


Non-photo realistic AI imagery

AI-generated and AI-augmented images that are not photo-realistic will be removed from the site. There is a subjective evaluation to be made here, but the decision of our Community Moderators is final. This policy mirrors a similar policy in relation to images taken with a camera and then heavily post-processed. Photocrowd remains a site for photography, not for digital art or illustration.


Composite and focus-stacked images

Images comprising multiple images combined into one, including focus-stacked imagery, should be classified as above into one of the three categories, depending on whether the image elements were all shot with a camera/phone, or whether some or all of the image elements were generated by AI software.

Composite images themselves are not considered AI generated by default. It is only if some of the image elements used in the composite are AI generated.


AI imagery in contests

All contests on the site now stipulate whether AI imagery is allowed or not. Most will allow only photographs taken with cameras. Some will be for AI-generated imagery only, allowing the community to experiment with AI software and explore its capabilities. Others will allow photos to compete with AI imagery.


Photocrowd Leaderboard and AI

The Photocrowd leaderboard is generated solely from contests that only permit photos to be entered. Contests that allow AI-generated and/or AI-augmented images to be entered into them will not award any leaderboard ranking points to submitted images, even if that image is a photo that has no AI-generated elements. In time a leaderboard exclusively for AI imagery may be introduced.


Policy enforcement and incorrectly categorised images


  • A strong deterrent is required to protect against the deliberate miscategorisation of imagery.
  • Photocrowd’s Community Moderators will hand-pick images regularly for spot-checks to verify their categorisation. Images that raise our suspicion, or are reported to us, or perform well in contests have a higher chance of being spot-checked.
  • If you are contacted about verifying an image of yours as being a photo taken with a camera, you will be required to provide:
    • an unretouched RAW file or original full-size JPEG file of the image in question, complete with EXIF data, AND:
    • EITHER two other image files of the same subject from the same shoot,
    • OR a screengrab of your image cataloguing software showing the image in question alongside other images from the same shoot/location
    • Additional information about the subject and the shoot may also be requested.
  • If these cannot be provided, and it is deemed that an AI-generated image has been mislabelled as a photo taken with a camera, your account will be at a very high risk of immediate deactivation without further discussion. This risk will be amplified if the image has been entered into contests which it should not have been.
  • If an image labelled as AI-generated is found to be a photo taken with a camera, for example by being found duplicated on Photocrowd or elsewhere showing EXIF data, the same risk of account deactivation exists.
  • Whilst account deactivation is a serious penalty, the image categorisation process contains a deliberate confirmation step to reduce the risk of human error, and the possibility of account deactivation for miscategorisation is clearly labelled during the process.

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