“Has technology gone too far?” is a question you may ask yourself as you scroll through the latest meme, where people use an AI tool to generate images ranging from “lo-fi nuclear war” to “Shrek the Redeemer.”

• The simplified tool is based on a real AI application called DALL-E 2.
• Developed by R&D company OpenAI, hype has been swirling around it for months as the company tests the software and people join the waitlist to try it out.
• Last month, Cosmo used it to make the first AI-designed magazine cover.

Looking ahead: As the technology for creating images becomes more advanced and instantaneous, questions will likely arise about certain creative roles. With AI already being used in copywriting, what are the chances of graphic design becoming fully automated?

Putting the art in artificial intelligence

Some in the graphic-design field seem concerned about what AI could mean for their careers. One student posted on Reddit wondering whether they should continue studying art at all.

Career change? In a blog post, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote that while he believes “AI will create lots of new jobs,” it’s “important to be honest that it’s increasingly going to make some jobs not very relevant.”

• Andrew Mayne, science communicator at OpenAI, told Marketing Brew that their “hope is that artists will use DALL-E 2 as a tool to support their creative process” and sees it as potentially useful in illustrating scientific concepts or as an artistic brainstorming tool.
• Kyle Li, assistant professor of communication design and technology at Parsons School of Design, told Marketing Brew that he’s watched his students use tools like the Dream by Wombo app, which makes AI paintings, as a way to inspire designs and speed up brainstorms.

Keep reading here.—KH

This week, after Snap announced that it’s rolling out Snapchat for Web, a few headlines left some advertisers scratching their heads: Both CNN and Yahoo speculated that Snap’s new desktop format could put it in competition with Zoom.

Not so fast: Social media marketers that Marketing Brew spoke with aren’t quite convinced that Snap is rebranding as Zoom’s latest competitor. Instead, they told us the desktop feature seems more likely a play for optimism ahead of what could be a tough earnings call for Snap on Thursday.

• Specifically, the desktop version could make Snap a (slightly) more appealing option for users, potentially driving interest in Snap’s $3.99-per-month subscription tier (Snapchat for Web is rolling out for paid subscribers in several countries, but will eventually be available to all users).
• Snapchat for Web does not currently have ads, though, making it less relevant for marketers who told us they were hopeful about desktop-ad insights.

Zoom in

Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at independent creative agency Mekanism, told Marketing Brew that because Zoom “by and large” has an enterprise audience, he doesn’t think Snapchat for Web will directly compete with Zoom. The company said it built Snapchat for Web with friends in mind.

“Is there a feature that’s comparable? Sure. But does that mean they’re going after that market? I don’t think so,” Gahan said of Snap and Zoom.

Big picture: He explained that Snap wouldn’t be the first platform to try to juice up a subscription tier in an effort to potentially diversify revenue and rely less on ads. Gahan and others we spoke with said that they’d spent fewer (if any) ad dollars on Snap this year than in the past, though they did not provide exact figures.

What if? If Snapchat for Web did open up ad inventory, however, some marketers told us it could make Snap a slightly more appealing place to advertise. Read what they said here.—PB

Last week, we asked if you thought Pinterest was a useful platform for marketers. Interestingly, the results were pretty much split among the more than 1,500 readers who responded.

• 35% said yes
• 33% no
• 32% don’t use it

Pinterest reports its Q2 earnings on August 1. Last quarter, the platform said its global monthly active users fell 9% versus the same time last year. At the time, Pinterest said it expected its Q2 revenue to grow 11% year over year.

Googly-eyed: Pinterest co-founder and CEO Ben Silbermann recently stepped into an executive chairman role at the company, handing the reins to Bill Ready, who was previously Google’s president of commerce and payments. Another former Google exec—Nadine Zylstra, previously global head of YouTube Originals—recently joined Pinterest in a new role: head of programming and originals.

+1: The company’s stock went up last week after the Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Elliott Management had been in talks with the platform and had bought more than a 9% stake.

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Insta-cart: Meta has brought purchases and order tracking to Instagram chat.

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Quote: “If they go straight to the traditional model, it’s going to be the biggest failure ever,” Marcel Marcondes, AB InBev’s global CMO, told the Wall Street Journal about Netflix’s advertising ambitions.

Stat: US gaming sales fell 10% in the first six months of 2022 compared to the same period last year, according to market research firm NPD.

Read: How TikTokers convinced consumers to lay on a bed of nails (Morning Brew)

Guilty pleasure-slash-spite read: The haves and the have-yachts (the New Yorker)

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Reddit’s advertising policy seems to differ from subreddit to subreddit
• Crypto companies are cutting social ad spend
• Advertisers spent $115 million on clickbait sites, report finds