The Coca-Cola Company is making bold moves to prioritize Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their operations. In its first-quarter earnings report, the company outlined their plans to begin using AI capabilities to enhance their marketing, business operations, and customer service. To further their efforts, Coca-Cola has been collaborating with OpenAI and Bain & Company to use text and image generator ChatGPT and DALL-E. The beverage corporation also launched their Create Real Magic platform, which held a competition inviting individuals to use their archive of iconic images to create works of art with AI-generated tools.
Pratik Thakar, head of global creative strategy and content at the company, has said that the AI-generated art is just the beginning, as Coca-Cola looks to use AI in other creative areas such as marketing. An experiment that did just that, was when the team needed an AI solution for their ‘Masterpiece’ short film that aired last month. They eventually chose Stable Diffusion’s platform to meet their needs.
Coca-Cola’s latest initiative involved utilizing AI for the Create Real Magic campaign. Thakar and his team asked fans to use Coca-Cola’s brand assets, ranging from the Coke bottle contour to the Coca-Cola Santa Claus, to create works of art using the AI platforms ChatGPT, Midjourney, and DALL-E. After the 11-day period, the company received over 120,000 submissions of AI-generated images.
In July, Coca-Cola plans to bring 30 of these AI-artists to their headquarters in Atlanta to work with them and create more ideas with their AI-generated art. The company is also experimenting with video tools such as Runway, as well as delving into AI to create digital collectibles, billboards, and fashion. Moreover, Coca-Cola is conscious of the ethical implications of their AI-powered tools and has been dealing with copyright issues to use it for their business or marketing.
The Coca-Cola Company has a long history of diving into trendy topics such as the metaverse, and AI technology is no different. According to Thakar, the appeal of AI is the utility value it provides and he has encouraged everyone to explore the technology and its possibilities.
