AI Images Pass the Trust Test: No Penalty vs. Stock Photos
NN/g ran a controlled study with 77 users rating identical fictional company pages that swapped only the hero image. Unlabeled AI-generated photos scored no worse than real stock on trust and professionalism, and the tiny authenticity edge for real photos (0.4 points on a 7-point scale) was marginal. The implication: what an image depicts matters more than how it was made, so teams hesitant about AI imagery can stop worrying about a perception penalty.