Klarna’s CEO seemingly touched a nerve on social media with a put up about how the corporate saved thousands and thousands by utilizing AI to chop prices and do the advertising and marketing work human workers beforehand did.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski tweeted on Tuesday that the fintech agency will save $10 million this 12 months partially as a result of generative AI lets the corporate produce extra photos sooner — and with a a lot smaller in-house advertising and marketing group.
“We’re spending much less on photographers, picture banks, and advertising and marketing companies,” he wrote. “Our in-house advertising and marketing group is HALF the scale it was final 12 months however is producing MORE!”
The purchase now pay later firm has additionally lower exterior advertising and marketing company bills by 25% and “eliminated the necessity for inventory imagery” by as an alternative utilizing AI picture mills like Midjourney, OpenAI’s DALL-E, and Adobe’s Firefly, Siemiatkowski added.
He additionally questioned aloud on the affect AI could have on artistic industries and people working in advertising and marketing.
“Nevertheless it makes me suppose, what is going to occur to the massively gifted advertising and marketing and artistic industries?” he added. “There’s after all nonetheless a necessity for tremendous nice, tremendous artistic large campaigns however a variety of the every day work of artistic companies could be carried out far faster, extra simply and at a fraction of the price utilizing AI.”
His remarks had been rapidly met with backlash. Some commenters replied to his tweet, calling him names and saying his remarks had been “ghoulish.”
The largely unfavourable response on social media to the CEO’s put up highlights the stress and considerations that many employees share about how corporations implement AI in workers’ day-to-day workflow in an try to spice up productiveness and lower down on prices — and the affect that may have on the workforce.
“For those who nonetheless had an even bigger advertising and marketing group, they in all probability would’ve suggested you to not put up this,” one particular person stated.
“Flexing that you just fired half of your advertising and marketing group is simply actually dangerous,” one other added, alongside a clown emoji.
Klarna laid off roughly 700 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, in Could 2022. The next 12 months, the corporate posted its first worthwhile quarter in 4 years. Its head depend fell by round 23% by the top of 2023, in keeping with firm filings.
When reached for remark, a Klarna spokesperson stated, “We expect it is very important spotlight the affect that AI is having and present actual concrete examples and knowledge to drive a proactive dialogue.”
Different commenters remarked that the AI-generated photos regarded dangerous of their opinion, with one saying they “regarded like shit.” Siemiatkowski included in his tweet a picture displaying a hair roller in a bouquet of flowers.
Whereas the responses on-line to the CEO seemed to be largely unfavourable, not all had been.
“The artistic industries will have the ability to stage up, as an alternative of a artistic suite, they may have total manufacturing studios at their fingertips,” one particular person wrote. “Spectacular outcomes by Klarna group!”
Klarna has been leaning into AI for some time now
Siemiatkowski had tweeted in February about Klarna’s AI assistant, powered by OpenAI, saying that by dealing with customer support inquiries it was doing “the equal job of 700 full time brokers.”
“In the long term, as extra corporations undertake these applied sciences, we consider society wants to contemplate the affect. Whereas it might be a constructive affect for society as an entire, we have to contemplate the implications for the people affected,” he stated on the time.
In an interview with The Wall Avenue Journal printed Wednesday, Klarna’s CMO David Sandstrom stated the corporate must be “brutally environment friendly” so as to “turn into probably the most superior advertising and marketing group there’s.”
“What we’ll see is that we will obtain far more with decrease prices, or if we determine to extend prices once more, which I believe we’ll do, we will likely be much more environment friendly,” he stated.
“On a advertising and marketing stage, we as an trade need to acknowledge the truth that whether or not we prefer it or not, whether or not creatives and crafters are nervous or not about their future—which they really should not be, for my part—we’re within the midst of a step change for advertising and marketing and the advertising and marketing trade,” Klarna’s CMO added.
In a press launch printed on Tuesday alongside the CEO’s social media put up, Klarna stated it had “generated over 1,000 photos within the first three months of 2024 utilizing genAI, decreasing the picture growth cycle from 6 weeks to only 7 days.”
Klarna additionally stated its AI assistant was now used for 80% of all copywriting inside the firm.
