The Week in Generative AI: July 12, 2024 edition

Welcome to The Week in Generative AI, a weekly roundup for marketers from Quad Insights that sums up the latest news surrounding this rapidly evolving technology.

With the collective creative community’s AI anxiety level ever-rising, Etsy’s newest campaign, dubbed “Brand Mission Campaign,” gets back to brand roots by highlighting the human creators of hand-crafted goods that set the e-commerce platform apart, Marketing Dive’s Peter Adams reports. Debuting with a spot that asks “What does a robot know about love?,” the campaign is accompanied by an update in platform selling standards requiring that every item sold “have a degree of human involvement,” Adams notes.

Colgate-Palmolive is using AI in product innovation to create new fragrance combinations, Consumer Goods Technology’s Lisa Johnston reports. Last year, the CPG company launched shower gels developed with the technology — the Aroma Essence line. The process entailed pulling from billions of data points, including brain scans, to predict consumers’ emotional responses to scents, Johnston notes, adding that each gel is named after the “mood” it aims to elicit (Forever Happy, Ultimate Relax, Alluring Love and more).

See also: “Clorox boosts innovation with generative AI,” as we noted in the June 14 edition of this column.

In an article titled “The top 5 AI advancements in 2024 so far — and their impact on advertising,” Ad Age’s Asa Hiken explores what’s been a busy first half of the year for the headline-making technology. Examples cited by Hiken include text-to-video models, such as Sora and Showrunner, as well as Apple Intelligence. Find the full story here.

More from Quad: “Generative AI and CGI for brand imagery — a 2024 guide for marketers”

Following a recent security breach of OpenAI’s systems, generative AI tool users should remember “that AI companies are treasure troves for hackers,” TechCrunch’s Devin Coldewey writes. While OpenAI sources stated that the breach only affected an internal employee discussion forum, Coldewey argues that it underscores the fact that “AI companies have become gatekeepers to a tremendous amount of very valuable data.” Read the full story here.

Previously: “OpenAI announces new safety committee,” as we noted in the May 31 edition of this column.

You can’t spell fashion without AI — or so says Motorola. The company’s new “Styled with Moto” campaign utilizes an AI-generated runway to showcase the Razr 50 folding smartphone, featuring virtual models in garments inspired by the Motorola phone, Campaign US’s Brandon Doerrer reports. To create the content, Motorola leveraged nine different AI tools, generating thousands of images “that were altered to incorporate the brand’s logo and then upscaled and animated,” Doerrer notes, adding that the campaign is running across social channels.

Previously: “Toys ‘R’ Us sees backlash following release of AI-generated ad,” as we noted in the June 28 edition of this column.

AI tools and advancements:

• “TikTok’s Developing a New AI Chatbot Called Genie” (Social Media Today)
• “Anthropic’s Claude adds a prompt playground to quickly improve your AI apps” (TechCrunch)

AI trends:

• “China leads the world in adoption of generative AI, survey shows” (Reuters)

AI controversy:

• “Microsoft quits OpenAI board seat as antitrust scrutiny of AI pacts intensifies” (ABC News)
• “Job scams surged 118% in 2023 due to AI, watchdog group warns” (Fox Business)

AI strategy:

• “How Bic Is Expediting Innovation With AI, ML & Consumer Insights” (Consumer Goods Technology)
• “DTC company Shapermint’s AI influencer engine highlights how marketers are actually using the tech” (Digiday)
• “JPMorgan Chase Invests in Infrastructure, AI to Boost Market Share” (PYMNTS)