Generative AI And Content Creation
AI is reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace. At Neon Bloom, we’re excited about AI’s potential but mindful of its implications. The rapid advancement of generative AI has ignited a rush among brands and agencies to capitalise on its capabilities. As this landscape evolves, we’re identifying both exciting opportunities and potential challenges.
London-based Sheep Inc offers a prime example of AI in action. They've been creatively leveraging AI for over a year, transforming their social media feed into a vibrant showcase of unique, playful content. By eliminating the need for costly on-location shoots, they've reduced their environmental footprint while delivering standout visuals. Their work also demonstrates how AI can enhance traditional photography, creating immersive new worlds through the integration of AI-generated imagery.
Conversely, brands like Dove have taken a cautious approach, opting to avoid AI models in advertising altogether. They've identified potential risks to consumer confidence, a significant concern in an industry built on representation and authenticity. This highlights a critical challenge with AI-generated imagery: its tendency to create an unrealistic, often 'perfect' aesthetic that can clash with a brand's values and audience. Dove cleverly kicked back with their ‘Real Beauty’ campaign.
Levi’s faced similar criticism while attempting to stay at the forefront of technology. The brand launched a campaign using AI to generate images of models with more diverse body types and skin tones to enhance representation. However, critics labelled this approach as "lazy" and "problematic," questioning why Levi’s chose to create artificial models instead of hiring real ones to authentically promote diversity.
Levi’s justified their use of AI by claiming it was intended to improve inclusivity, allowing customers to see models who resemble themselves and creating a more personalised shopping experience. While this approach aimed to be progressive, it faced significant backlash, with critics arguing that real models should have been used instead.
This incident highlights a potential future where AI-generated models, tailored to individual customers based on their personal data, could revolutionise the shopping experience. Imagine shopping online or instore with all models represented by an AI avatar of yourself, dramatically reducing returns and the need for physical fitting rooms.
The Cadbury 'My Cadbury Era' campaign offers a glimpse into this future. By allowing users to become the star of their own advertising campaign through AI, Cadbury has successfully leveraged the technology without facing the same criticisms as Levi’s. This campaign demonstrates the potential of AI when used in a playful, engaging, and brand-aligned manner.
Generative AI image creation has rapidly matured with platforms like Dall-E, Midjourney, and Adobe Firefly leading the charge. The focus is now shifting towards video content, with text-to-video and image-to-video generation emerging as the next frontier. OpenAI's Sora, capable of creating animated content from simple text prompts, is a prime example of how AI is revolutionising video production.
Source: (OpenAI Sora)