It’s clear that everyone is looking towards 2020. Why? Analysts believe we are at a tipping point in which emerging technologies will reach a point of significant impact on the workplace. One speaker referred to 2020 as the beginning of the “era of AI.”
In my first session, Human + Machine: Stronger Together in the Age of Co-Creation, I learned about the evolution of the relationship between humans and AI—starting with being an assistant, to a peer, and eventually a muse. As AI continues to develop, we need to leverage platform thinking, how machines will manage our experiences across all media. In the case of content creation, they showed a video where AI inspected design elements of Braun products and learned patterns in geometric shapes to help suggest new shapes and designs within Adobe Photoshop. I think this is fascinating given that the rich design ethos of Dieter Rams, whose work on Braun inspired Steve Jobs and Jony Ive at Apple, is now being interpreted and enhanced upon by machines.
My second session was Rewire Your Business with Blockchain to Drive New Value, where I learned about how the hype in blockchain often leads to tunnel vision on the development of the technology, but no clearly defined objective for it. The speaker encouraged marketers to take an outcome focused approach—start with what you want to accomplish and work from there. In the case of media, that would be to rapidly and reliably validate the transaction of impressions to media spend.
Hear more insights from our Young Lions worldwide on the global Mindshare Cannes hub. Plus, you can hear more from Ken Mak about AI in particular in his recent episode of Culture Vulture Live, “If You’re Saying No Thanks to Robots.”
