Actually Google doesn't allow images near ads anymore. See this very important ad and image placement clarification post.
you really have to ask your adsense representitive. I do not work for google. the images were never intended for use with adsense in the first place but people used them for that.
If you are aligning images next to ads with the intention to increase your CTR then it will be a policy violation. I see no gray area and I fail to see why there is so much confusion.