In the race towards greater convenience and personalization, a new wave of gen AI-powered assistants will take center stage. These AI GENIES will work on behalf of consumers, ticking mundane tasks off their to-do lists. Since most people will prefer to pick and choose what they outsource, brands must learn to discern when autonomy is preferred. While the concept of AI agents isn't new, and the current crop isn't perfect, rapid developments in the underlying tech could result in AI GENIES that finally deliver.
Call Arc is an AI tool launched on Arc Search in May 2024 that allows users to ask and receive responses simply by using their voice. Users can initiate the feature within the existing Arc Search app by holding their phone to their ear and talking as one would when taking a call. The tool builds upon the app's existing features, which use generative AI to create a more intuitive search experience. Arc Search was created by The Browser Company, which is based in the US.
Launched in April 2024, eBay's Shop the Look feature marks a leap forward in personalized online shopping. It uses AI to offer a curated carousel of images showing outfits tailored to an individual user based on their shopping history. Selections include both new and pre-loved garments and adapt to people's evolving tastes by analyzing their shopping behaviors, leveraging eBay's vast data and image collection. Shop the Look was first available on the brand's iOS app for US and UK customers, with Android to follow later in 2024.
Vietnam-based electric car manufacturer VinFast is introducing MirrorSense, the world’s first AI-powered auto-adjustment feature for car rearview mirrors. Compatible with any vehicle with a Driver Monitoring System camera, the AI tracks the driver’s head and eye gaze with 10mm accuracy and automatically adjusts all mirrors. Once set, the system can also recognize the driver’s face and reset mirrors to the correct position on all future rides. MirrorSense won a CES 2024 Innovation Award and will be integrated into VinFast cars this year.
Image, music and text generators have endowed users with creative superpowers, and the vast majority (82%) of US consumers believe that gen AI will make them more creative. With expectations around personalization soaring, these savvy creators will look for brands that offer them the freedom to hack services and products to suit their needs. Are you willing to admit that you can't predict every consumer need and should embrace co-creation? It's time to cede control and maximize creativity!
Showcased in April 2024, the Athlete Imagined Revolution (A.I.R) project from Nike included 13 prototype shoes, each one co-created with a different athlete. The Nike design team fed command prompts based on the athletes’ preferences into gen AI models, then used digital fabrication techniques (including 3D sketching) to refine the output. These new concepts were shared wih the athletes for further assessment, then a prototype was made. Nike is also developing an in-house LLM that will help the brand design products based on athlete data.
Created by the National Library Board (NLB) Singapore, NLB Playbrary transforms books into interactive adventure games using ChatGPT. First, readers visit the Playbrary website and select a book. Then they receive a custom prompt to use with ChatGPT. Starting from a selected moment in the storyline, players act as the protagonist and choose from three options that shape the plot. ChatGPT responses are based on the book's established universe and readers can introduce twists and explore new story elements through their own prompts. Launched in April 2024, Playbrary is available across 1,000 books for ChatGPT Plus users and a smaller selection for free users.
McDonald's Canada has reimagined its ‘80s classic Menu Song with the help of Lil Yachty and Mike Clay. Two renditions of Menu Song Remix were released (one in English and another adapted to French) in April 2024. To celebrate, fans were invited to learn and singalong, with a karaoke version of both tracks available online. At the same time, McDonald’s introduced its first Remix Menu, available for one month at participating restaurants across Canada. The menu consisted of four products, all twists on classic menu items inspired by hacked remixes from guests, such as the Apple Pie McFlurry.
Calls for decolonization have soared up the political agenda, propelled by waves of personal stories shared and amplified through social media. Now, this grassroots movement is getting a software upgrade, with gen AI enabling people to rewrite those murky pasts, broaden their cultural horizons and conjure up visions of a better future. Responsible brands are diving into the fray, too; using the tech to consider their role (past and/ or present) in systemic frameworks of oppression, and setting foundations for lasting change.
At the Bangkok Pride Festival in June 2024, Garnier Thailand debuted its 'Remove your make-up, never your pride' campaign, advocating for diversity and gender equality. Garnier used gen AI and interactive digital out-of-home (DOOH) technology to enable participants to create personalized digital displays. These were showcased live at the festival, with negative words converted into positive affirmations via a mobile interface. During Pride Month, people across Thailand could participate in the online campaign and post their customized photos.
Synthetic Memories is a project run by Domestic Data Streamers that uses DALL-E to bring lost memories to life. In April 2024, the group hosted a pop-up in Barcelona, where it is based, to record citizens’ memories of the city. For example, that of an octogenarian woman who recalled peering into a prison to glimpse her dissident father during Francisco Franco’s fascist dictatorship. Domestic Data Streamers were able to invoke that memory and more by using prompt terms tailored to specific periods and styles unique to the city.
During the Zona Maco art fair in Mexico City in February 2024, design collective Panorámica showcased Anybody Can Be a Mexican Designer, a machine that uses AI to generate furniture designs inspired by Mexican styles. After inserting a 10-peso coin, users could interact with prompts that spanned the country's design history, color schemes and decorative nuances, leveraging a vast image archive. The machine, which was powered by Arduino and OpenAI's API, represents a new era in creativity and challenges traditional views on authorship and cultural identity. Panorámica's work emphasizes the fluid nature of Mexican design and its potential for global influence.
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