They say in life, if you can see it, you can be it. But what if you’re invisible to the world around you?
What we’re exposed to, and how we see ourselves reflected in the world, plays a massive role in shaping our goals, our aspirations, and ultimately who we believe we can be. With AI reshaping the world around us, it’s more important than ever for people of color to have a seat at the table and ensure accurate, meaningful representation in what’s to come.
With over 34 million AI-generated images created each day and over 15 billion produced to date, visual content powered by machine learning is quickly becoming the norm. By 2026, AI is expected to generate 96% of all online visuals. But as tech evolves, it’s crucial to recognize that the data feeding these systems often lacks proper representation but our Ethical AI Guidebook tackles just that.
We’ve got to remember that if people are biased, which we are, AI can be potentially worse.
That’s where we come in.
At pocstock, we’ve built a library of content and data focused on inclusion and ethical AI, on making sure all races, identities, abilities, cultures, and experiences are represented. It’s this commitment to inclusion that has made us especially equipped to tackle this problem head-on.
With over 1.8 million images (and rapidly increasing) captured by creators from 65 countries around the world, we’ve curated a visual library that truly reflects real people, real cultures, and real stories, not stereotypes. Authentic visibility is more important than ever, particularly with AI transforming the way we see reality.
For example, when AI was prompted to generate images of dentists, only 2.3% featured Asian people, despite them making up 22% of dentists in the real world. Ask the same system to show nurses, and Hispanic people don’t appear at all, even though they account for nearly 10% of the profession. And the list of biases goes on and on.
The way AI is currently generating images is not only inaccurate but also dangerous, as it reinforces a world where entire groups are literally erased from the picture. That’s why we teamed up with people who were ready to do something about it.
Refacing the Future, our collaboration with INNOCEAN USA and more than twenty industry partners, is a major step forward in fixing the foundation of AI, the data itself.
While working on a documentary about Black surfers, David Mesfin, VP and Creative Director at INNOCEAN USA, turned to AI to help generate supporting visuals. But no matter how clear the prompt, the results were wrong. When prompted to show Black surfers, AI showed white surfers with darkened skin. It could not recognize real Black surfers, even when they exist in abundance.
Together, we brought in 16 photographers to capture the communities AI has missed: Black surfers, Asian skateboarders, Native American elders, Hispanic musicians, queer Latine families, and more. Through dozens of photo shoots, we added over 96,000 new, verified, culturally authentic images to the pocstock dataset.
This is about more than stock content. It is about re-training AI to see the world as it is. Versatile. Complex. Human.
To help others do the same, we developed the Ethical AI Guidebook, the first of its kind. This practical framework provides creators, agencies, and developers with the tools to produce and tag content that accurately represents real people.
We also plan to make these images and data accessible to the companies working to build a more inclusive future like Google, Adobe, Microsoft, Amazon, Canva, Shutterstock, OpenAI, and other leaders shaping AI as we know it.
If you are serious about building a more accurate, ethical and inclusive future, this is your invitation to be part of it.
Thank you to everyone who participated in bringing this vision to life
We’re grateful for the support of FCB Global, David & Goliath, Lopez Negrete Communications, Orci, True Gent TV, Union, We Are Royale, Dippin Sauce, APM, Black@, The Sideways Life, Native Like Water, Contrast Eye Films, Great Day in the Stoke, Sofly Surf School, Aquatic Future Foundation, Black Surfers Collective, the Digital Media Licensing Association, AllTold AI,Ludulluu, and Cactus Advertising.
We also extend our deepest appreciation to the talented photographers whose work has helped shape the visual narrative of this initiative: Early Gibson, Stan Evens, Kayla Taitt, Kory Lamberts, Pablo Oliveira, Jordan Brady, Ben Brady, Peter Chaney, Chase Uttley, David Mesfin, Kathryn Izquierdo-Gallego, Damian Dinh, Carlos Moscat, Felipe Fenton, Patrick Reynolds, and Sophia Lynn Uribe.
How to get involved:
- Ethical and Inclusive data – pocstock.com/inclusive-ai
- Download our guidebook https://www.pocstock.com/inclusive-ai/pocstock-innocean-breaking-bias.pdf
- Invest in pocstock at https://wefunder.com/pocstock
- Creators, join our network at https://www.pocstock.com/become-a-contributor
Let’s break the bias. Let’s build something better.