curated AI image generation stock photography services?

I was approached by ArtGratis to potentially share a link on my website list of free commercial use images. All of their content is mostly AI generated instead of traditional stock photography.

This feels like a novel and yet completely natural development in the creative production world. Why spend all your time mucking around with AI image generation tools when you can simply let someone else do the dirty work and let you choose from their curated results?

The idea of an AI generation middle-man feels strange to me. I’m curious what practical purpose this serves?

Curated stock photography sites exist to quickly find source images to fit your creative needs. AI image generation is supposed to help make it easier to tailor your images so you aren’t stuck relying on random photos on stock photo sites. If you can easily utilize AI tools yourself, why rely on curated AI stock photo sites that are probably just as generic and random as what you’ll find on regular sites?

Maybe what bothers me is that AI images still look too much like AI images. I don’t particularly like that surreal uncanny valley style where everyone is almost but not quite human looking. I don’t get why anyone would intentionally choose that vibe willingly. I especially don’t know why anyone would rather let someone else craft those images instead of creating their own. Seems like you would have more luck crafting the results yourself.

Still, I wish ArtGratis luck. It is a new field and maybe there will be a need for their services that makes sense to someone else.