How AI And AR Are Enhancing The Beauty Space

AI and AR technologies have transformed the beauty industry. They have changed how customers interact with products and revolutionized marketing strategies. 93% of Snapchat users are interested in using AR for shopping. From Virtual try-ons, Skincare Analysis, and Shade Matching to personalized skincare recommendations, AI and AR have enhanced the industry in unprecedented ways.

Multi-Channel Communication

AI and AR technologies are also reshaping how beauty brands engage with consumers. Social media platforms and mobile apps equipped with AR filters allow users to experiment with different makeup looks and share their creations with friends and followers. We have developed a beauty filter that you can test on our Instagram account.

These interactive experiences drive user engagement and serve as powerful marketing tools for beauty brands, allowing them to showcase their products in a fun and engaging way. In fact, 50% of consumers prefer AI-powered recommendations for beauty products. And it is predicted that more than 70% of beauty brands will be using AI for product development in 2025, according to a Gartner survey.

Leadership from most major brands and corporations—including The Estée Lauder Companies, LVMH, L'Oréal and more—were there highlighting the way their organizations are leveraging data and AI to shape the future of their businesses.

Earlier this year, during the NVIDIA conference, L'Oreal presented their use of augmented reality, highlighting its usefulness in today's world where content generation is in high demand and photography can be time-consuming and expensive. They also emphasized their commitment to ethical practices by insisting on using human models in their augmented reality technology.

A quick example of how to combine various generative AI tools to create a video explaining generative AI

Generative AI Unleashed

While media tend to focus on the most cutting-edge applications of AI, many of them are actually expensive and time-consuming.

There are many generative AI tools available for free that you can start using right away to improve your work efficiency, enhance customer experience, and even boost your product's quality. There are various ways to utilize generative AI in your business, such as product innovation, creative processes, and customer experience.

Few major AI platforms exist, including OpenAI, Stable Diffusion, Midjurney, Runway and Hugging Face. Companies build products on their APIs. Combining these open APIs with your own data unlocks AI's potential. Basic prompts are used in the examples, but detailed training offers endless possibilities.

By providing more details, ChatGPT can be trained to think more effectively. This example ideation was simple, but it is a good starting point.

AI for Product Ideation, Research, and Development

Beauty brands are always coming up with new products, but the process can be slow. Artificial intelligence can help speed up innovation by generating new ideas and identifying gaps in the market.

AI can help evaluate ideas with tools like ChatGPT, which ingests most of the internet.

Teams can now ideate entirely with ChatGPT. The more specific the prompt, the stronger the results. Moreover, you can train these models—meaning, the more you and your team talk to ChatGPT about your business, inputting your IP, the more data points it has to give you ideas tailored to your company’s needs.

ChatGPT also has an understanding of basic market insights, and although unspecific, is invaluable to small brands that don't necessarily have access to streamlined data. For larger companies who have this data on hand, coupling these data sets with ChatGPT can save valuable time and resources spent on competitive and market analyses..

There are also tools such as IdeaFlip and Ideas AI, which use natural language processing to help generate and prioritize product ideas, allowing brands to quickly and easily identify the most promising concepts.

L'Oréal's Idea Lab employs AI algorithms to identify any potential gaps in the market and then generates new product ideas customized to meet specific customer needs. Brand Agency London, the home of global beauty brands such as Ciaté London, Lottie London, and I Am Proud is also utilizing ChatGPT to quickly generate ideas and streamline their workflow. Sephora is using AI-powered tools to analyze customer feedback and create briefs that cater to individual customer requirements. These briefs can be incorporated into product descriptions.

AI can also help with ingredient selection. Companies like L'Oréal and Novi are using AI to power ingredient databases and manage chemical data from suppliers at scale. Other platforms like the Good Face Project utilize AI to help global cosmetic companies with both formulation and regulatory compliance. As an alternative, brands can also leverage ChatGPT for ingredient insights and profiling.

The result with ChatGPT taking a consumer-centric approach

AI for Creative Process and Development

After coming up with a product idea and concept, AI can be leveraged to create creative campaigns. AI can generate product assets such as packaging, visuals, and copy, making the process easier than ever. For instance, let's consider a new luxury self-tan spray. By using the concepts from the ideation session with ChatGPT, it becomes much simpler to create specific visual prompts.

Tools such as Midjourney and DALL-E utilize AI algorithms to generate visual designs and images, which enables brands to quickly come up with packaging design concepts. These tools can even be used in conjunction with each other to enhance the quality of your prompts and get better results. Earlier this month, Midjourney introduced a Midjurney Alpha.

Midjourney Alpha is better than the Discord bot with its clean UI that focuses on creativity. It has visual prompt settings and a web interface for easy image management. Though not immediately available to everyone, it will be released to the public soon.

An example packaging concept prompt in Midjourney.

An example of a quick Go To Go To Market strategy from concept to execution by ChatGPT

Once the design direction is aligned, these same tools can help with campaign concepting and product photography. Flair AI is a tool specifically for branded product imagery, but Midjourney is usually more effective.

Tools like ChatGPT and Jasper can help generate product descriptions and other marketing materials, allowing brands to quickly and easily create compelling product pages and marketing campaigns. Jasper can format copy in a variety of different ways, from blog posts to web descriptions to Meta ads.

AI can create how-to and product videos. Tools like Synthesia, Soundraw, Runway.

AI tools speed up content creation, allowing brands to generate new content faster and optimize performance for the ever-demanding consumer.

AI for Enhancing the Customer Experience

Generative AI has enabled personalized customer service in the beauty industry through virtual beauty assistants that provide tailored support to consumers via chatbots, apps, or voice-enabled devices. An efficient chatbot can be created by analyzing feedback and FAQs to simulate a personalized experience. Generative AI algorithms can analyze skin images to provide personalized skincare routines.

Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property is arguably the most obvious area of law impacted by the expanding use of AI. Generative AI content will not be granted copyright ownership privileges because human creativity is required to establish authorship. However, this analysis becomes more complicated for hybrid works, where some of the components are created by humans and others by generative AI.

Copyright law has another important intersection with generative AI: copyright infringement. If the source of underlying data used to train the AI algorithm includes copyrighted content without proper authorization from the copyright owner, then there is the potential for a copyright infringement claim.

Latest example of multiple image prompt in Midjourney Alpha.

Contract law and privacy law are equally significant, particularly when it pertains to the usage and protection of underlying data. This includes the terms and conditions of applications and how user inputs are employed by the software company. It also entails maintaining confidentiality while formulating and submitting AI inputs, as well as establishing how personal data of consumers is being used and safeguarded. These are all crucial aspects to consider when dealing with AI systems.

Being aware of these evolving regulatory landscapes and accounting for ethical and legal considerations when using these systems are key for the successful implementation of generative AI solutions.

The moral of the story is to learn what works and discard what doesn't

Generative AI is revolutionizing the beauty industry by providing new levels of creativity, innovation, and personalization. While not replacing human creativity, it boosts productivity and efficiency. By utilizing algorithms and data, it transforms the way beauty products are developed and consumed, leading to higher sales and retention rates. Companies that embrace this technology stay ahead of the competition by experimenting, acknowledging its limitations, and exploring endless possibilities.

It is important to keep in mind that AI is simply a tool. To be successful, brands must align with a clear vision and direction, and not overlook the power of branding. Brands should be seen as powerful tools that effectively convey a company's unique approach to serving its customers using cutting-edge technology, while staying true to their brand mission and establishing a connection with customers on a personal level.

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