AI Search in Your DAM: 5 Best Practices for Using Lytho's Asset Manager

Did you notice a fancy upgrade to your DAM account? That’s right — AI Search in Asset Manager is leveling up your ability to find images. And, yes, it’s going to save you lots of time, too. We want you to get the most out of your DAM, so we compiled a list of tips and tricks that every member of your team can use. (Pro tip: Share this link with all of the people! Everyone loves AI Search DAM best practices.)

1. Understand how AI search indexes images.

Luckily, it’s pretty straightforward! AI-powered search categorizes your images into the following four buckets:

• Objects
• Animals
• Humans
• Scenery.

The results you get for any term will start there, and then hone in based upon what other qualifiers you include. The images in the top left corner of your results will be the most accurate, which leads us to …

2. The more specific you are, the better.

While tag taxonomy favors broad terms (outdoors, sunshine, running), AI loves detail. Why stop at “sunshine” or “outdoor running”? If you want a person running outside on a beautiful spring day, you can type that into the search bar. (Alexa, play “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles.) Speaking of tagging …

3. Know when to use AI search or tags.

We recommend both approaches based on the results you want. Not sure when to use which method?

• AI Search: Ideal for image specifics. AI looks at the contents of the image, which means you can get super specific based upon the visual you want.
• Tags: Ideal for business purposes. AI might not necessarily know that the woman in that incredibly chic suit is your CEO, but a tag can associate her headshot with her name, your organization’s senior leadership, and approved media for the press.

Image Source

The best part is that with Lytho’s DAM, you never have to choose. AI Search is simply another option to make finding assets more efficient, and you can toggle between both types of search. But if you want to make the absolute most of your DAM, it’s crucial you know …

4. When it comes to AI Search, the more assets the merrier.

The quantity of assets in your DAM significantly impacts AI’s accuracy, so you want to include a wide variety and a high volume, which supports the broader best practice of making sure your DAM is the single source for all your creative and brand assets. Quantity is very important because …

5. Accuracy is subjective.

We’ll say it one more time: Accuracy is subjective. If you don’t have any pictures of humans in your DAM and you ask AI Search for an image of a person, the result might be a horse. Or a bird. Or a lion. While we understand humans and birds are very different, AI knows they’re both animals. So, if you ask for an image of a person and you don’t have any, AI might suggest another animal. Just another reason to have lots of assets with a wide variety of subject matter (cough, cough see #4).

Image Source

Anything else I need to know?

Let’s see … AI Search is ready in your DAM (for no extra charge!). Reach out to Lytho Support to have it turned on, and we’ll index your assets. From there, all you need to do is hit that “AI search” toggle next to the search bar to turn it on.

If you want to jump over to tagging, simply turn it back off (and then turn it back on when you’re ready for AI search again).

If you’re not already a Lytho customer (hello, it is lovely to meet you), you can reach out for a demo here.