#42. DDB's AI Toys, Digital Twins, and more Digital Twins.
And why is Abe Lincoln breakdancing on Mars?
1. DDB's AI Toolkit: Navigating the Fine Line Between Innovation and Cliché
The ad industry's desperation for practical AI is growing as CMO’s frantically try to find uses for their overinflated AI budgets. Despite drowning in a sea of AI hype and investment, marketers have largely been stuck with the digital equivalent of a lemon tree - a few measly "AI-powered wins" that are about as impressive as a toddler learning to tie their shoes. Experiments like those from DDB are a useful reminder to marketers that AI is not a magic wand, but rather a tool that requires thinking to use effectively.
That's why Ad Age recently sat down with George Strakhov, DDB Worldwide’s global head of creative technology, who demonstrated five of the agency’s custom AI tools. Over the last 18 months, Strakhov has led the development of DDB’s AI funhouse, which is part of its tech-focused creative platform called RAND.
…Approximately 10% of DDB’s workforce of 6,000 people are now weekly active users of these tools.
One of the handful of tools covered is ”DoneOrNot.”
DoneOrNot aims to provide a straightforward answer to marketers' concerns about campaign originality by searching the web to see if a given idea has been done before.
In an industry constantly chasing the next trend or anything remotely viral, it can be challenging for agencies to ensure they can “own” an execution due to its uniqueness. DoneOrNot allows creatives to quickly vet their concepts against a good web scouring.
The user inputs a brief such as: “Campaign idea for a car brand, where we shoot the commercial in real time and broadcast it live.” DoneOrNot deconstructs the brief and scours the web for its components. The AI will specifically search for whether the idea has been implemented as part of an ad campaign.
It sounds less of a revolutionary solution but more flat-out useful. In an age of relentless content saturation, a little help distinguishing novel ideas from "been there, done that" may go a long way.
As AI becomes omnipresent in the world of advertising, Strakhov said he is finding more reasons to push beyond boring use cases. “For our industry, it’s really important to kick against the gravity of the cliché,” Strakhov said.
Source: Ad Age
Visit the AdAge article for more on this and other DDB AI tools.
2. AI and Restaurant Loyalty—Why Le Pain Quotidien is Creating Digital Customer Clones
Why? The primary purpose of digital twins is to enable better understanding, analysis, and optimization of the physical entity they represent. By simulating various scenarios virtually, organizations can gain insights, predict outcomes, and make informed decisions without costly physical tests. Used across industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and urban planning, digital twins improve design, efficiency, and maintenance while driving innovation and reducing risks.
Alain.AI generates persona profiles by leveraging authentic customer information from two primary sources:
Tartine Club: Data collected from members of the brand's loyalty program.
Non-member data: Information gathered through social media engagement and outreach.
To ensure user privacy, all datasets undergo an anonymization process. Despite this protective measure, the resulting personas effectively function as digital representations of actual individuals, capturing real behavioral patterns and preferences
For example, Le Pain Quotidien can train Alain.AI on current trends around food and beverages, and then direct the platform to question the personas based on those trends.
“We can see what are the products that people really want worldwide,” said Annick Van Overstraeten, CEO of Le Pain Quotidien.
DDB Worldwide created a chatbot inspired by effectiveness expert Les Binet, and both Publicis Groupe and Monks designed replicas of their own bosses.
Le Pain Quotidien intends to leverage customer insights generated by its Alain AI system to inform recipe modifications and menu localization efforts. The international bakery-restaurant chain currently operates in 19 countries and has plans to expand into five additional markets in the coming months
.This data-driven approach is designed to enhance customer satisfaction across diverse global markets while facilitating the brand's continued international expansion.
Visit the AdAge article for more.
3. The world’s most realistic avatars? Right now it’s looking like Synthesia
You can choose from a selection of avatars. Or for those of you who are more adventurous, you can clone yourself as in this example where influencers can use it to crank out more product. You could easily use this for certain types of online advertising.
Talent contracting might be tricky. I’m not sure of and country whose moral rights allow for endless reuse of someone’s image. Of course, you can offer a reasonable buyout for a specific number of episodes, or timeframe (two-year buyout; unlimited usage). It’s getting interesting.
4. Grok-2: Elon Musk's AI Love Child Goes Through Puberty
Ladies and gentlemen hold onto your Tesla coils! Elon Musk's latest brainchild, Grok-2, has arrived, and it's here to make your smartphone look about as intelligent as a pet rock. This digital prodigy isn't just pushing the envelope of AI capabilities—it's setting the entire post office on fire and dancing around the ashes.
Jack of All Trades, Master of Making Us Uncomfortable
Available exclusively to X Premium+ Ultra Deluxe subscribers (because nothing screams "for the people" like a triple-tiered paywall), Grok-2 is the AI equivalent of that kid in high school who was good at everything and insufferable about it. It can chat, code, and create images with the finesse of a thousand monkeys on a thousand typewriters—if those monkeys had PhDs and a concerning lack of ethical boundaries.
Grok-2 isn't just competing with GPT-4 and Google Gemini; it's leaving them in the dust while simultaneously composing a symphony, solving world hunger, and planning the optimal route for your next trip to the grocery store. It's enough to make you wonder if it's time to burn your college degree and bow down to our new silicon overlord.
Ethical Restraints? Grok-2 Says "Hold My Bitcoin
"Abe Lincoln on Mars breakdancing without pants.” I believe I was using a Beta release …
Check it out for yourselves. You’ll need to commit to one year of Elon for access. I’m sure there is a trial somewhere.
The Future of AI or Musk's Midlife Crisis?
As we watch Grok-2 redefine the boundaries of artificial intelligence and human discomfort, one can't help but wonder: Is this the dawn of a new technological era, or just Elon Musk's elaborate scheme to keep Twitter... sorry, "X"... relevant?
Will Grok-2 usher in a utopian future where AI solves all our problems, or are we witnessing the first steps towards a dystopia where robots write all our tweets and humans are reduced to battery-powered meme generators?
Only time will tell if Grok-2 is the key to unlocking humanity's potential or just another stepping stone on our inevitable path to becoming pets for our AI masters. Either way, buckle up, buttercup—it's going to be a wild ride to the singularity!
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