November 19th 2024.
The holiday season is upon us, and for many, that means the highly anticipated release of the Coca-Cola Christmas advert. This yearly tradition has become synonymous with the festive season, with some even declaring it better than the beloved pumpkin spice lattes of autumn. However, this year's ad has sparked quite a bit of conversation for a different reason – it was generated by artificial intelligence.
In the original ad from the 1990s, real lorries delivered real bottles to real families, bringing joy and excitement to the screen. But this time around, it's all just pixels and code. While it may have been a challenge to find real actors for certain scenes, such as polar bears watching TV, surely it wouldn't have been impossible to film a bottle of coke being opened or people taking blissful sips, or even a fleet of red trucks arriving with some CGI snow added in.
Of course, there are no glaring AI blunders like a hand with six fingers, but the overall feel of the ad is undeniably artificial. The images are incredibly smooth and in some cases, slightly blurred, with movements that seem slow despite the quick pace of the ad. It's an interesting contrast that adds to the unique nature of this AI-generated commercial.
Speaking of unique, the faces in the ad do not actually belong to real people. They were created by generative AI, and there are subtle clues throughout the ad, like the lack of movement in the truck wheels in the opening shots. Tech Radar called the campaign "a soulless and creepy dystopian nightmare," while viewers on X had mixed reactions, with some calling it "lazy" and "sad" and others admitting it made them "feel sick."
Love it or hate it, there's no denying that this ad has caught people's attention. PJ Pereira, co-founder and partner at Silverside AI, which created the ad, revealed that multiple AI programs were used to bring it to life. These include Stable Diffusion, Pactto, DALL-E, ChatGPT, and their own tool, Director Magic. And believe it or not, they were able to come up with a first draft in just three days.
But the real challenge came when Coca-Cola requested that the ad be personalized for dozens of different markets. This was when the team realized that this isn't "the old world" anymore, and they were able to include customized skylines for each location where the ad will air.
So, what do you think of this AI-generated ad? Does it capture the holiday spirit or do you miss the human touch of real actors? Share your thoughts on Facebook or tweet them to us – we'd love to hear your thoughts!
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
