Ethically Sourced Creativity: Shutterstock's Alessandra Sala

Alessandra Sala, senior director of data science and AI at Shutterstock, brings an impressive background in responsible AI to her role. Also the global president of Women in AI and cochair of the Women4Ethical AI platform at UNESCO, Alessandra joins this episode to describe how Shutterstock, widely known as a stock photo company, has become a go-to destination for creative assets — and AI training data.

Alessandra outlines Shutterstock’s content acquisition and royalty models, which reward contributors whose assets are used to train third parties’ AI models and have set the standard for other stock media companies. She argues that these ethical approaches aren’t just a moral choice — they offer strategic advantage, given that these assets are integral to shaping the future of AI-generated content. Learn how Alessandra’s team is leading the charge in ethical AI and redefining the creative landscape. Read the episode transcript here.

For more on model collapse — when AI models are trained on AI-generated content — see this recent New York Times article, “When AI’s Output Is a Threat to AI Itself.”

Guest Bio

Alessandra Sala is the senior director of AI and data science at Shutterstock. She has acquired more than 10 years of experience in research and innovation through her work in both academic and commercial environments. Sala is passionate about advanced analytics, machine learning, and computational models, with a focus on transitioning innovation from research to products.

Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the coordinating producers are Allison Ryder and Alanna Hooper.

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