How Will AI Impact Future Consumption?

[baoshi.rao]

People always have mixed feelings about new things—both curious and resistant—just like the recent buzz around Sora.

Last week's most talked-about public topic was undoubtedly OpenAI's release of Sora, the first text-to-video generation model. While its generative capabilities are impressive, it wasn't entirely surprising, as just a year ago, OpenAI launched the large language model ChatGPT, both sharing similar foundational logic.

Currently, many are debating which industries Sora might disrupt and whose jobs it could eliminate. Some 'clever' individuals have even started selling courses under Sora's banner. At the beginning of the Year of the Dragon, Hangzhou TV Station launched two AI digital anchors. Their intonation rises and falls rhythmically, and their facial expressions are as vivid and natural as real people. They can also process vast amounts of information in an extremely short time, providing viewers with timely news reports. Most importantly, they never need to take leave or rest.

In everyone's lifetime, it seems we witness at least two technological revolutions, and the intervals between these revolutions appear to be shortening. From this perspective, the current AI wave is likely just another round of technological revolution.

With the emergence of technology, low-abstraction jobs are gradually being replaced. People are being largely liberated from repetitive tasks, the dimensions and breadth of services are universally enhanced, and real life is set to undergo a new wave of changes. However, a significant amount of non-digital work still requires human involvement. Therefore, in our view, more applications of AI and human-computer interaction will emerge, serving as assistance for 'cost reduction and efficiency improvement.'

In the field of artistic creation, AI has already become incredibly popular. Even if you have never learned any painting or photography techniques, you can 'reduce costs and improve efficiency' to complete a 'masterpiece.'

AI is the artist's 'paintbrush,' capable of transforming data—this 'paint'—into the envisioned scenes in one's mind. Artistic creation can also expand into various fields such as installations, sculptures, paintings, and performances. These works are all completed through collaboration between artists and their extraordinary 'artistic assistants'—AI robots. "Perhaps in the future, unleashing creativity will mean exploring entirely new ways of creation together with AI robots." — Zhong Sujun, artist and one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in AI.

Zhong Sujun's human-machine collaborative work "Gesture" at the 2020 Google Developer Conference. She trained a neural network to generate repetitive patterns identified from data, then digitized drawings, sketches, and paintings. Through custom software, she fed these back to the machine so it could imitate and simulate her style.

The futuristic butterfly-shaped ceiling design in Nanjing Deji's luxurious restroom was completed using 3D printing technology. Human imagination combined with AI design and 3D technology brought this complex, futuristic-impact work to life. Secondly, regarding the supply chain, whether it's the traditional retail industry or the cutting-edge fashion sector, both are embracing the era of symbiosis with AI.

For instance, the fast-fashion giant ZARA has already adopted artificial intelligence technology to assist in quickly matching end markets with inventory, achieving real-time adjustments in production. This approach can reduce unpredictable losses from human judgment by at least 50%.

In the near future, not just fast-moving consumer goods, but perhaps even the 'eye' of fashion buyers might become 'digitized'. The job of fashion buyers revolves around 'what to buy' and 'how to buy'. A virtual world or meta-platform could enable designers and fashion buyers to interact in a more immersive manner. For designers, Web3.0, Metaverse and AI will make market segmentation more refined, with products becoming more personalized. Most importantly, we can have closer communication with customers to better understand their needs. Virtual assistants can further help both parties match partners, participate in more efficient ways, and identify real transaction opportunities.

AI-created NIKE offline retail store

In marketing and promotion, AI remains calm by default, without emotions or biases. Therefore, it's particularly suitable for applications that require cool-headed analysis and observation, such as data analysis, model analysis, and research strategy judgment. The algorithms of Xiaohongshu and Douyin consistently push content we "want to see" right before our eyes. A few years ago, they suggested we buy outfits from idol dramas. Now, AI has evolved from simple tagging to complete brand advertising channels, with many fashion brands opting for full-scale product placements in TV series rather than endorsements by individual celebrities.

AI is surrounding us through various marketing channels, continuously learning while also making blunders. For instance, social media frequently suggests "people you may know" as friend recommendations, prompting netizens to quip: "Guess why this person I supposedly know isn't already my friend?"

In truth, AI applications aren't the core topic we wish to explore. What we're more interested in discussing is: how our lifestyles and needs in the real world will fundamentally change under the impact of AI, or what we might call the new wave of technological revolution. The internet, food delivery services, Douyin, WeChat, Alipay, Xiaohongshu... These are not just experiences exclusive to the post-80s and post-90s generations but also include those born in the 50s and 60s. The cycles one must navigate through life and the adjustments forced upon us by external changes are far more numerous and rapid than we might imagine. However, the shifts in demand and consumption trends do not evolve or detach without any pattern or logic.

For a long time to come, it will still be humans who use AI and design its frameworks. The textbooks AI learns from are still written by the human world, filled with diverse opinions, strategic considerations, and even fake news.

For a long time to come, it will still be humans who use AI. People can confidently assert that AI cannot replace jobs that involve human interaction, simply because humans are emotional beings. Literature and film sometimes serve as education, and other times as a frontier probe into the real world.

In Westworld, robots unaware of their true nature raise questions about whether programming is also the foundation of humanity, with the true fear lying in the awakening of self-awareness. In Black Mirror: Be Right Back, a grieving pregnant woman orders an AI boyfriend to help her through mourning, only to confine the eternally youthful robot to the attic a decade later. In The Three-Body Problem, the higher-level Trisolarans are described as beings with transparent thoughts who communicate via brainwaves and cannot lie.

From these three stories, we can discern some essential human needs for AI: 1. More refined, stable, and even more diverse services;

2. Faster completion of tasks without the need for rewards or rest (more precisely, stable costs without fluctuations in monetary or emotional returns) for labor substitution;

3. Efficient interactions with no communication costs.

We might even consider that these demands fulfilled by AI are what humans would prefer to be realized by real-world people or other entities. This reminds me of the New Year's movie If You Are the One 3, where the hot topic was whether the final character left was the AI version of Liang Xiaoxiao. Essentially, it raises the question: Can consumers' demands for authenticity and emotional warmth be replaced by the brain's sense of satisfaction?

The term "carbon-based life forms" is blunt, but in plain terms, it means our physical bodies remain in the real world. No matter how much we hype the value of the online or virtual world, or how much time we spend staring at screens to channel energy, our bodies still need to breathe air, drink water, and eat.

Given this, there's no need to overanalyze who AI will replace. Instead, we should focus on the tangible experiences of the real world—what we repeatedly refer to as emotional value. AI cannot dream, but much of human development and iteration begins with imagination. Dreaming is hope—it makes people willing to endure day-to-day work, take on loans, and chase after commercial cycles.

AI can help with careful verification, but it cannot make bold assumptions.

For example, the term "brand vision" itself carries a strong sense of deception—a "dream" crafted as a desired future. Can you imagine the following scenario? A boss says to Sora, "Please listen to the following requirements and design a product for me: create a space that embodies a lifestyle with profound emotional value and high spiritual significance; it should also balance artistry, humanity, and natural elements; the form of this commercial space and its consumer content should ideally allow for gradual standardization of elements." Immediately, the scene of Aranya by the sea is generated...

This is most likely an impossible occurrence.

Thoughtful service is not actually the answer. Just as Haidilao's excessive service has backfired, the branding has gradually overshadowed its practical meaning. When meticulous service reaches an extreme, people seem to have been alienated into AI—there is service but no respect. AI's primary function is to provide value by performing tasks as needed, but whether it can delicately handle consumers' sensitivities remains uncertain. Brands like Pang Dong Lai emphasize being observed and imitated rather than expanding outward, focusing on the essence of experience—respecting employees, habits, and consumer feelings. This poses a challenge for AI's learning path.

Finally, let's discuss our conjecture.

1. In the future, many first- and second-tier cities in China, where commercial saturation and stable populations are already evident, may integrate AI algorithms into community infrastructure construction/renovation. This would help understand and assess the actual needs of permanent and transient populations, eliminating interference from minority preferences and demands. Research and deep development work require human qualities such as curiosity, 0-1 creativity, critical thinking, and value judgment, which are difficult for AI to replace. Although AI can assist humans in vast data collection, pattern recognition, model construction, and result verification in the field of research and development, it can never fully replace the motivation and direction of human research and development.

Therefore, when facing large-scale urban renewal or the construction of central districts and new areas, practitioners should utilize the advantages of AI to improve the efficiency and quality of research and development, while expanding their cognitive boundaries and perspectives to adapt to changes in the field. 2. The technological shocks received by the advertising industry will lead to an overall increase in demand for experiential scenarios and a significant upgrade in supply. In commercial entities, the settings for experiential scenarios, movement paths, and functional areas may undergo disruptive adjustments. Consumers' demands for impact and novelty may rise again, and related trend-driven industries could face substantial challenges.

The value creation of IP and celebrity effects may become more difficult, while the marketing side will likely intensify its focus on new interactive tools and content strategies.

3. Virtual experiences and electronic technology applications may temporarily result in "insufficient engagement" within certain physical commercial domains. The solution to this issue might involve a revival of back-to-basics approaches. Community groups centered around themes like personal awakening, healing, returning to simpler lifestyles, and human-pet interactions—aligned with contemporary sentiments—could see increased growth. Long ago, I watched a 1989 movie called The Ten Commandments. The story tells of a rebel born into a Catholic family who grows up to become a father who believes science can solve all problems. Ultimately, due to a computer's assessment of ice thickness, his son falls into a frozen river and dies, leading the protagonist to question his faith in science.

Artificial intelligence is a powerful technology that can transform human work and life, but it also has its own limitations and risks. AI may attempt to take over the functions of the human left brain, but as for the right brain, that will always remain human.

Humans should progress together with AI, not be replaced by it. "Neither magic nor reason can help you bear the thin ice of life. The true God is the pair of hands that hold you tight and grasp your hands when you're walking on thin ice." — Krzysztof Kieślowski, director of The Decalogue

As we discuss the relationship between AI and modern business society today, this quote seems fitting. Humans possess more imagination than AI, but AI lacks the sense of boundaries that humans have. The creative potential of this powerful combination is truly fascinating.

However, what changes is always humanity itself, not the world. Sometimes capturing consumers requires heart, while other times it simply means extending those helping hands at the right moment.