Nov 12 (Reuters) - Adobe on Tuesday added

software tools that let its customers use artificial

intelligence to create images based on its library of stock

images, while still paying the original creators of those

images.

Adobe, the company behind tools such as Photoshop that are

widely used in the content creation business, has been rushing

to add AI tools to its software as it faces image generation

technology from newer firms such as OpenAI. Adobe's strategy has

been to ensure that content it generates is legally safe to use

in commercial work and to compensate artists.

The tools released Tuesday let customers start with a stock

image from Adobe's collection then modify it with AI to meet

their needs. The creator of the original image is compensated

as if their unmodified original image was used.

Matthew Smith, vice president at Adobe for strategy, design

and emerging products, said that while some Adobe users like to

generate images from text prompts, many customers want

conventional stock imagery modified a bit for their specific

purpose.

"A majority of people still have a blank canvas problem,"

Smith told Reuters. "Generative AI is not replacing stock

(imagery). It's not replacing creatives or contributors. It's

enhancing and giving them more potential opportunity to increase

their earnings."