The day an AI-generated image sold for the first time
An AI-generated image had sold for the first time.
I noticed it on the day I had decided to open the Adobe Stock dashboard only once a month.
As I have written in this series, I no longer check my sales page every day.
I decided that I would never go back to the person I was during my depressive phase, who would refresh the graph dozens of times a day.
That is why I only noticed that small number during my one-time check at the end of the month.
【I stared at the "Downloads: 5" figure for a while】
Out of the five, four were old photos.
Photos I had uploaded eight years ago in 2018 and had since forgotten about were still being used by someone this month.
And then, one more.
An AI-generated illustration had sold for the first time.
【So AI images really do sell...】
The amount was $1.07.
In Japanese yen, that is about 160 yen.
Some might think, "Is that all?"
I would have thought the same thing ten years ago.
If I were the me from back when I refreshed the sales graph dozens of times, I would have"160 yen? Don't mess with me."and closed the screen.
But to the me of today, the meaning of this 160 yen looks different than it did back then.
This wasthe first proof I received that "AI images really do sell".
Not a rumor, or someone else's success story.
Not an advertisement, or a sensationalist note article about "making tens of thousands of yen a month with AI."
$1.07 actually entered my own account.
That fact meant more to me than just $1.07.
I want to write a little bit about the background of that number.
So far, I have uploaded a 【total of about 200】 AI images to Adobe Stock.
Of those, 【about 70】
passed the review and became available for sale, with an acceptance rate of roughly 【around 35%】
In other words,130 images were rejected during the review process.
If I were the me from ten years ago, I would have stopped here.
In fact, ten years ago, I did stop. After the first few images were rejected, I lost heart and deleted everything.
This time, I didn't delete them.
I left the 130 rejected images there without deleting them.
And then, one of the 70.
One AI-generated image was chosen by someone on a day in June.
Rejection wasn't a judgment on me.
It was just a technicality.
That is the one thing I want to go back and tell my 10-years-younger self.
The breakdown of this month's 5 sales, totaling $4.11, was symbolic to me.
4 photos from 2018(The me from 8 years ago gave some pocket change to the me of this month)
1 AI image from 2026(The current me left the first piece of evidence for my future self)
My past self and my current self were both working in the same month.
And in the meantime, I did almost nothing.
There were days of depressive waves. There were days I couldn't move.
Even so, both my past self and my current self, while standing still, reached someone.
What I wrote in the first article of this series, "I was earning money even though I was supposed to be at a standstill," happened again this month in a different form.
This is what I wanted to write about most.
The internet is overflowing with talk about "how to earn money" with AI images.
100,000 yen a month, 500,000 yen a month, 1 million yen a month. The numbers just keep getting bigger.
But I am writing about the $1.07.
This is my real number right now, and
this is my real evidence right now.
To those just starting out:
It took me [about 1 month] to sell my first image.
The amount I earned from the AI image was 160 yen.
Even so, this is proof that it "sells."
It's small proof, but it's not zero.
Things that aren't zero will grow if you stack them up.
My photos from the last 10 years are still proving that to me today.
And to my past self, who is trying to start over once more:
This 160 yen was received because you didn't delete the 130 images that were rejected during the initial review after you rebooted.
Even if you stop, don't delete.
This is the one thing I managed to keep.
I am writing about the continuation of this, one step at a time, in the second installment of the series "The Complete 10-Year Record of ASD x Adobe Stock": "The First 30 Days After Reopening the Adobe Stock I Had Left Alone."
You can find the magazine for this series here → The Complete 10-Year Record of ASD x Adobe Stock
If you'd like, please take a look at my Adobe Stock as well.
https://stock.adobe.com/jp/contributor/207652252/sally%20san