There was something we kept quiet about in our recent Shutterstock review. 

While the Shutterstock service has long been hailed as one of the best free stock photo sites on the web, there’s more to the creative platform than assets and content library. There are also a series of online companion apps, available under the banner Creative Flow+. 

• You can try Shutterstock Creative Flow+ by clicking here. 

Creative Flow+: Pricing & plans

• A service that’s included in Shutterstock subscriptions, available as a standalone product with a free trial 

Creative Flow+ is a standalone subscription, independent of the rest of Shutterstock’s offerings. Although it’s important to note that when you subscribe to one of Shutterstock’s monthly or annual plans, you’ll get Creative Flow+ included for free.

If you don’t need access to those plans, Creative Flow+ will cost you $13 per month, or $120 per year, and if you’re curious about the service, there’s a free month’s trial on offer as well, removing any reason you might have to not try it out. 

• Pricing & plans: 5/5

Creative Flow+: Getting started

• A series of apps, from scheduling to creating, all accessed from the sidebar on the left 

So what is Creative Flow+? Put simply, it’s a combination of web-based apps and graphic design software designed to help you organize yourself, and produce visual content to promote and market your business.

As such, it comes with five separate apps, all accessible from the interface’s sidebar on the left. ‘Plan’, for instance, is a calendar, made to keep you and your team organized. It’s even possible to link to collections you’ve already created to make sure all assets for a project stay together.

‘Predict’ is an AI-based tool to speed up the creation process of posts aimed at Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. In order to facilitate the process you can provide it with images from Shutterstock’s library, upload some from your own collection, or just skip that step to see what Predict can… well… predict for you. But to be honest, aside from setting the right aspect ratio for your project, it’s hard to discern what the templates on offer have that the templates available in Create don’t. Still, maybe that’s why Predict is still in beta.

‘Catalog’ offers a quick link to your collections, assets and designs, making it easy to manage them all from the same place. Which leads us to the last two which we’ll look at in greater detail below: ‘Generate’ and ‘Create’.

• Getting started: 3/5 

Creative Flow+: Generate

• AI comes to Shutterstock, with varying degrees of success, but its output isn’t part of your Creative Flow+ subscription 

AI is everywhere - and that includes Creative Flow+. If you’re familiar with the concept of text-to-image AI art generators, it’s pretty much the same here: type in a description of what you’d like to see, add as many keywords as you can think of, and click on ‘Generate’. After a few seconds you’ll be presented with four images.

Don’t like what you see? Click ‘Generate’ again, or alter your description. By default you have no ‘Style’ set, giving the AI free reign over what to produce, but you can narrow down the outcome to Photo, Art, Digital, 3D or Scene if you like, and also choose from one of the displayed keywords.

The most interesting option which caught our eye was ‘Zoom out’, available on every thumbnail. Click on its icon, and three new images will be generated from the one you selected, each slightly further away from the last, revealing more of the scene -although, for us, the last one seemed to always be more of a flight of fancy than the other two.

Those AI images are created based on the assets already in Shutterstock’s library, and your mileage will definitely vary. However, we think it’s a bit of a stretch to include it in the Creative Flow+ sidebar, as the results generated aren’t actually part of your subscription. If you like them, you’ll have to pay for them via a separate Shutterstock subscription or through the purchase of on-demand packs.

• Generate: 3/5

Creative Flow+: Create

• An impressive array of tools to design content in your browser, although there are some limitations 

‘Create’ is the real star of the show. Think of it as a simplified version of Photoshop - a Photoshop alternative that uses templates to get you started fast. You can, of course, start a design from scratch, but templates are one of the biggest draws here. There are so many to choose from, all organized by category, such as Facebook Covers, YouTube Thumbnails, and Instagram Stories. The focus is certainly on social media, but Create also has ready-made canvases for print, such as Flyers, Invitations or Brochures for instance.

But choosing the right template or canvas size is but the start. The real fun begins in Create’s editing section.

You’ll find a wealth of tools to work with. For starters, although it’s perfectly possible, you don’t need to upload your own media to Create, but have thousands of photos to choose from - whose use is included with your subscription.

Doing a search will also display results from Shutterstock’s library however, and there’s sadly no way to discern which images belong to it, and which are part of your subscription - until you add one to your project and see watermarks all over it. It would be more user-friendly if some overlay could be displayed on the thumbnail to tell us at a glance which are free and which aren’t.

Add an image to your canvas, and perhaps one of the most useful and impressive tools is ‘Remove Background’. Now of course, the more uncluttered the background, the easier it will be for Create to excise the foreground from it, and we did encounter some whose composition was too complex for Create to handle. However when it works, it works very well, and you’re given some simple tools to refine the results.

You also have a selection of ‘Pro Effects’ at your disposal - they’re fun to use but they have no obvious editable options. You can color correct your image of course, crop it, erase sections, or even animate their appearance onto your canvas, should you be working on a project that supports such action.

There’s a wealth of graphics you can add and customize, a selection of brushes for freehand drawing, and a vast choice of fonts you can add to your project. And everything is layer-based, meaning you can reorder objects with ease, lock them into place, or even delete them altogether.

Of course, Create can’t hope to compete with dedicated software, but the wealth of features found in those programs can be overwhelming, especially if you’re new to content creation (or you just need to build a lot of assets fast).

Yet here you have in your hands a lot of options that can help you create relatively complex designs in very little time, ready to download and use to promote your work or product. It’s also effortless to duplicate your project (via Catalog) so you can work on a different version, or set up personal templates in that way, to speed up any future projects you might wish to produce.

• Create: 4.5/5 

Creative Flow+: Scorecard

Should I try?

Try it if...

You need access to royalty free images to design projects quickly online, organize yourself, plan with other members of your team, and get AI help to predict the next trend. 

Don't try it if...

You’re not enamored with getting yet another subscription service, and would need the sort of powerful tools found in the best photo editors and dedicated software.

Arthur C. Clarke once said: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." What he didn't follow up with is this – What if there was an entire show based on that sentence? 

If he did, it would be Mrs. Davis. The new Peacock exclusive, which starts airing April 20, is about a lot of things. And when I saw a lot, I mean a lot. Technology and AI, manhood and masculinity, religion, zealotry, blind devotion, faith, commercialism, the joy of quirky non-sequiturs, and how even powerful algorithms can get things very, very wrong are all explored thematically here. 

After watching the first few action and in-action-filled episodes, I initially struggled to understand the point of all of it. Eventually, however, the puzzle pieces began slotting into place in fascinating fashion.

I'd like to tell you a lot more about the eight-episode series (which I watched in full), but much of what I want to say will spoil the multitude of surprises (small and very big), secrets, and Easter eggs hidden within the action-fantasy-dramedy. If you don't want me peeling away the many layers of the onion in front of you, stop reading and check out Mrs. Davis for yourself. Otherwise, here we go.

Potential Mrs. Davis spoilers follow.

The title doesn't describe the show's star Betty Gilpin (Glow), who plays Simone, a horse- and motorcycle-riding nun. Instead, that's the name of what is ostensibly the show's other main character, an artificial intelligence (AI) that's often unironically referred to as "her" or, derisively by Simone as "it." It clearly prefers "Mrs. Davis," though it does go by other names around the world, including "Madonna."

Think of the titular AI as the logical conclusion of Siri and Alexa. Or, more accurately, ChatGPT, Bard, or Bing AI. Rather than a handful of people using the chatbot to answer the occasional question or help them finish that KPI report, Mrs. Davis is ubiquitous and streaming to everyone's ears through a wide variety of Bluetooth earbuds (I noticed AirPods and other brands). Her (its) role though is somewhat different than a dispassionate AI from Google or OpenAI. Instead, Mrs. Davis is deeply involved in people's happiness quotient, which is measured by gaining their wings. Not physical wings, but digital ones that you can see on someone's back when you view them via your phone's AI filter. People gain their wings by fulfilling a quest dictated by Mrs. Davis.

Simone appears to hate Mrs. Davis and, initially at least, is the rare human who refuses to sport earbuds and speak to the AI/algorithm. The AI expresses its displeasure by sending a mysterious collection of oddballs (all people hoping to earn wings) after her, and by destroying her convent's jam business, which results in all the nuns being cast to the winds. Hey, you were warned that Mrs. Davis was a weirdly positioned show, rather than your typical kind of television offering.

The series has a lot of characters who drop in and out, and the purpose and point of anything isn't abundantly clear until the third episode. What, for instance, is the obsession with magic? Why is Simone a nun who also insists she's married? As the saying goes, all will be revealed. And, as the show peels away the layers of confusion, it also becomes more compelling. There's a quest for Simone and, yes, it does involve the Holy Grail, and finding said grail could result in Mrs. Davis ending itself.

The trio of main characters is completed by Wiley (Jake McDorman), Simone's childhood friend, ex-boyfriend, and possible adversary. Okay, there may also be a fourth, key character – Jay (Andy McQueen), who runs a diner frequented by Simone and where she gets a lot of her marching orders. The cast of supporting characters is equally strong with the likes of Margo Martindale (The Americans) and Katja Herbers (Evil).

It takes some time for the cast to gel, possibly because there's so much storytelling and elements crammed into each episode. That's despite the fact that some hour-long episodes can feel a bit sluggish, too. Episode 3's way-too-long giant sword sequence carried the water for a lot of exposition and flashbacks. Every once in a while, you're left pining for a little linear storytelling.

Where are we going with this?

The dystopian view of AI is one that audiences will likely lap up, but I kept waiting for a revelation about the people behind the curtain, i.e. the individuals responsible for Mrs. Davis itself. 

While that's not exactly the point of the show, we learn how magic abhors a truth-teller. The algorithm – or, more specifically Mrs. Davis – killed magic performances. If you want to know the secret behind any trick, you just ask, which is an obvious commentary on the corrosive power of AI. Later, we hear one of the AI's most revealing statements: "My users aren't responsive to the truth. They're much more responsive when I tell them exactly what they want to hear" – which begs the question: Is there a creator at all?

There are other big reveals that I'd rather not get into because I think they ruin some of the series' best bits and deepest thoughts about technology, magic, and religion; three things that have far more in common than you might initially think.

The gimlet tech perspective, the show's puzzle-like nature, and even some of the mystical and religious elements should not come as a surprise considering the show was created and written by Tara Hernandez, (HBO Max's The Big Bang Theory) and Damon Lindelof (Lost, one of the best Disney Plus shows). And, like that latter show, Mrs. Davis can get lost in the sometimes ponderous plot. Some of the show's most head-slappingly startling moments can be traced to writer Jonny Sun. The author-illustrator is well known online for his best-selling book Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too, a graphic novel that, with its themes of an alien's search for meaning and happiness, is at least Mrs. Davis-adjacent. The good news is that Gilpin's strong, emotional presence provides a sort of magnetic core that one happily spins back to. When she's not on the screen, which is rare, the show can flag.

I found myself equally intrigued and frustrated by Mrs. Davis. It stacks absurdity upon absurdity, while always mixing in yet another level of mystery. The AI is omnipresent but because it lacks a physical presence, it can also feel somewhat absent from the series. Without the titular AI driving the plot forward, Mrs. Davis sometimes just spins around Simone or Wiley without going anywhere.

Like Poker Face, one of Peacock's best TV originals, one might argue that every minute of Mrs. Davis is meaningful and any word, image, or tableau ignored is a clue missed. Whether it can survive under the weight of its own intricacies or the constantly winking nature of its exposition remains to be seen. I enjoyed it and was only 60% certain I ever truly understood what the hell was going on – and I'm okay with that.

Mrs. Davis' first four episodes launch on Peacock on Thursday, April 20.

The AI revolution is in full swing, with new and better tools hitting the markets daily. That being said, Hypotenuse has been receiving some traction online for quite some time, with users lauding its pricing and functionality. 

Want to try Hypotenuse.AI? Check out the website here

The platform itself is an AI copywriting tool that should help you speed up content delivery. But can it really provide high-quality content quickly and automate your blogging and writing? Let’s take a look.

Plans and pricing

The platform offers three pricing plans, with an option to try it out for free without giving out your credit card details. If you’re a single writer or a small business, you will probably look at the Starter plan, which costs $29 a month and offers roughly 25,000 words and 200 images. 

If you have a small team that you want to test out, the Growth plan offers access to up to five users, with 87,500 words and unlimited AI-generated images (watermark-free). This plan also offers a plagiarism checker and will cost you $59 a month. 

Finally, there is the Enterprise plan for larger teams; however, for the pricing, you will have to go through the sales team. An additional benefit of the Enterprise plan is a personal account manager and custom AI models that can be tailored to your brand’s voice.

Features

While numerous features that the platform offers overlap with other AI writing assistants, there are still a few which make it unique. 

The batch generator is a great tool if you have an e-commerce site on, for example, Shopify. You can import all of your products via CSV or directly through the Shopify integration and have Hypotenuse bulk write descriptions for each of them. However, make sure you proofread all of them before publishing. 

Content detective is another great feature the platform offers, which allows you to quickly fact check your articles and find sources with just a click of a button. 

Functions such as blog writing, content writing, summarizing and paraphrasing tools are pretty much the same as with other AI writing platforms. As long as you don’t expect miracles, you will get useful content that you can use with some editing beforehand. The same can be said of its social media captions and ad copy creation capabilities. 

On the other hand, the AI image generation can offer interesting results, but be mindful that results will vary depending on the input you provide to the tool. It can be a great way of creating unique visuals for your blogs or products, but if you’re looking for a professional presentation, as with the text, the images will require editing in your favorite photo editing tool.

Interface and in use

Hypotenuse is a well-designed platform that offers ease of use through its simple yet effective UI. For example, the blog post writing workflow offers guided prompts, which are simple to follow and use. All you need to do is click away and add keywords and a topic.

A quirky new thing that the other platforms don’t offer is unique loading screens. Once you prompt the AI to create a text or image for you, you will be met with a fun loading screen that creates an impression of work being done behind the scene. Other platforms usually have a loading bar, a sand clock, or just a prompt that says, please wait.

Support

You can find a robust Guides section on the platform that offers articles explaining all of the functionality of the platform. Interspersed with the text are also some video guides that can help you get to grips with advanced functions such as CSV importing and batch generation.  

The company blog also offers information and ideas on how to use the platform, at the moment, it’s not as detailed but does offer enough for beginners. There is an FAQ, email support and also a get in touch form, which probably creates a Jira ticket for the dev team to respond to any technical issues you may have.  

Depending on the plan you choose, you can get direct support from the Hypotenuse team, which can help you set up your project inside of their ecosystem. Overall, the support is excellent.

Security

As with most web-based platforms, Hypotenuse offers a detailed Privacy Policy and Terms of Service documents on the site itself. These contain the usual information that the company is following the commercially available means of protecting user data but do not guarantee it. 

For payments, the platform uses third-party payment processors that adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS.

Test

We’ve given the platform’s writing capabilities a quick test to see how it handles a simple topic. The goal was to cover “Artificial intelligence helps writers be more succinct,” and since this platform doesn’t have a “paragraph” writer template, we decided to ask the AI to write a post on the topic.

The results were solid, though the text sounds a bit “dry” and just lists the facts, with an OK conclusion. The topic that we have given it, is quite simple, so with more prompts and a more interesting topic, the results get better. But overall, if you’re looking for content that you can actually publish and provide value, you will have to do some editing.

The competition

The competition is quite stiff for these types of tools, with Jasper AI being a strong candidate. Jasper offers numerous template and integration options, providing content of similar quality. Pricing is on the side of Hypotenuse for now, but if you don’t run an e-commerce site Jasper might be a more versatile option. 

Longshot AI is another platform that rivals both Jasper and Hypotenuse. It boasts the greatest set of integrations and quite a few templates. Furthermore, it has a custom AI model that is quite powerful and can create unique text that passes plagiarism checkers.

Final verdict

All in all, Hypotenuse is a great tool for creating product descriptions, unique AI-generated images, and text that can be used after some editing. On the pricing front, it could do better, but it’s accessible for small businesses and even a single writer. However, we would recommend taking the 7-day free trial (without giving out credit card details) a try before you actually decide to buy it.

• Check out our list for the best AI writers