This is the first part of SKMG’s Cannes-edition of its newsletter COMMPRESS, CANNESPRESS, covering the Cannes Lions from La Croisette. It’s Day 1 at the Palais and we’re yet to experience a session that doesn’t touch on generative AI. From Nick Law ’s warning that it will synthesise everything to Chrissy Teigen ’s concern that people won’t be able to know what’s real, to Open AI’s CTO Mira Murati chatting us through how the very definition of intelligence is changing.
Because when 90% of internet content is predicted to be AI-generated by 2025, how should a person feel? The gist we’re getting so far is that we should have faith in our own abilities to recognise authentic, real and relatable content. In fact, consumers are demanding it already. The return to real isn’t new, but our standards for authenticity are becoming more sophisticated as gen AI takes hold.
In other news, we’re seeing a shift in searches: less Google and more internet communities (think: Reddit), especially when it comes to seeking reviews. And speaking of authenticity, it can be nuanced: Snoop Dogg ’s super stunt for Solo Stoves outraged the comms industry but sold a firestorm of stoves. It wasn’t him genuinely giving up smoking so much as it was a game of smoke and mirrors, and yet, the customers loved it.
“My therapist says that online time was almost a euphoric time for me. It was so fun, I was so connected, it was the wild west, and my therapist says I’m still chasing t.