OpenAI’s new image generator aims to be practical enough for designers and advertisers

It’s “a new tool for communication,” says Gabe Goh, the lead designer on the generator at OpenAI. Kenji Hata, a researcher at OpenAI who also worked on the tool, puts it a different way: “I think the whole idea is that we’re going away from, like, beautiful art.” It can still do that, he clarifies, but it will do more useful things too. “You can actually make images work for you,” he says, “and not just just look at them.”

It’s a clear sign that OpenAI is positioning the tool to be used more by creative professionals: think graphic designers, ad agencies, social media managers, or illustrators. But in entering this domain, OpenAI has two paths, both difficult. 

One, it can target the skilled professionals who have long used programs like Adobe Photoshop, which is also investing heavily in AI tools that can fill images with generative AI.