This month’s freshest marketing news comes from an array of bots’ hands: writing bots, advertising bots, makeup bots, torturing bots, and an updated Mark Zuckerberg posting shirtless with UFC champions. “A misstep?” we wondered. But, as Jane Birkin once said, “When I made mistakes, people used to laugh. I could have learned better, but I’ve always liked to make people laugh.”

AI and TV Ads Were Made for Each Other. A string of uncanny videos show what generative AL and advertising have in common: They chew up the cultural subconscious and spit it back to us. NY Times

People Hire Phone Bots to Torture Telemarketers. AI software and voice cloners simulate distracted saps willing to stay on the phone forever—or until callers finally give up. Wall Street Journal

The Workers at the Frontiers of the AI Revolution. Outsourced workers use generative AI tools to do their jobs, from AI image generators like Midjourney to chat-based tools like ChatGPT. Rest of World

New Mark Zuckerberg Dropped. The tech CEO is trolling Elon Musk and posting shirtless with UFC champions. Why? The Atlantic

Microsoft Teams Is Adding Maybelline’s AI-Powered ‘Makeup’ Filters. The Maybelline Beauty app adds 12 AI-powered ‘digital makeup’ looks for Teams Enterprise users to apply during meetings. The Verge

EXTRA. What men should know before coloring their hair. Virtual makeup. Shrinkflation. Irish Alexa. Reddit mostly won. Barbieheimer. America, the early riser. Tom buys electric race boat team. HGTV is Making Our Homes Boring and Us Sad.  Bot or not? How to tell when you’re reading something written by AI. And for the bestest human-generated copywriting, yours truly, REGULAR ANIMAL.