AI car photography is software that uses artificial intelligence to turn a phone picture of a car into an image that looks as if it was taken in a studio. Dealers and sellers use it to make photos for listings.
A good photo matters because a buyer on a used car marketplace decides within seconds whether to open a listing. But a dealer's cars usually stand in a crowded yard. A phone photo shows other cars, a dusty ground and bad light. Hiring a photographer for every car costs time and money.
Here is a typical case. A dealer with 30 used cars in stock would need a photographer for most of a day, and would have to move each car to a clean spot. With the software, one executive walks along the yard and takes one phone photo of each car where it stands. The finished images are ready within the hour, and each new car that arrives gets its listing the same day. Cars that sit unlisted for a week are cars that do not sell.
The software works in a few steps. It uses computer vision, the technology that lets software recognise what is in a picture, to find the outline of the car. It cuts the car out of the background and puts it on a clean white floor. It adds a soft shadow under the wheels, so that the car does not look as if it is floating. It also corrects the brightness and the colour.
The same images are used by an car configurator and by dealers who list cars from their dealer management system. For cars taken in part-exchange, the photos also help the online car auction, where dealers who are far away bid without seeing the car.
The software only improves how the car looks. It must not hide scratches or dents, because a buyer who finds hidden damage will not trust the listing.