Love is fertile ground for tech.

AI has wiggled its way past productivity and into our very personal lives. Perhaps the reaction to a headlining loneliness crisis, some find the easiest friend to make, or relationship to keep, is the one you can program yourself. For some, that stretches as far as having an AI boyfriend, for others, a form of free therapy. After several isolated years, it is not entirely surprising that websites like Character.AI attract 3.5 million daily users who spend an average of two hours a day using chatbots. Less surprising is that the bulk of those users are teenagers, cheated of a “normal” youth and in search of companionship. “I’m not gonna lie, I might be a little addicted to it,” says one 17-year-old about this tech development. For those without close friends or loved ones to lean on, we see the appeal, and new companies like Friend see it too – offering an AI wearable that is “always listening” and responding via text. And while we’re weary of what tech is doing to interpersonal skills, there is a flip side to this: the IRL-ness of it all…

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1. DATA, DATA, AND MORE DATA

Every event, activation, installation, and exhibit has the opportunity to collect a list of attendees names, emails, and other useful information. This bolsters brands’ CRM initiatives, helps expand into new consumer segments and business categories; for potential brand fans and customers, the chance to hear more about the work, products, and interactions of the brands they find interesting and inspirational. It’s a win-win in a world that doesn’t flinch at giving up personal information. No doubt collecting data, Google, in partnership with Chomasonic, drew crowds with their multi-sensory exhibit ‘Making Sense of Color’. The experience “reimagines the pervasive impact of color in everyday life and shows how thoughtful design can profoundly alter our sensory experience of the world.”

1. Smart homes become dumb home.

The latest interior status symbol in Silicon Valley isn’t a chakra-cleansing shower, it’s a simplified, uncomplicated home. According to designer Ken Fulk, clients are purging technological bells and whistles and instead opting for ease and tradition. This warmer, analog home design aligns with the overarching trend towards reducing screen time and dependency on technology in the name of less maintenance and upkeep–it’s the interior version of the increasingly popular Lite Phone. Expect this stripped-down philosophy to extend to other everyday products that can live without high tech–cars, kitchen tools, lighting, etc.

Meanwhile, a Luddite movement rises.

Months ago, a friend of The Co. asked our Editor how “Amish” she plans to raise her kids, considering the adverse effects of iPad parenting and kids’ social media usage. Fast forward to today, the term “Luddite” is being reclaimed by a new wave of activists determined to stop generative AI from replacing human art, writing, and creativity. Embracing what was once considered an insult to critics of the tech industry, they're calling for a reevaluation of how tech serves people and society. This movement is already percolating at the consumer level amongst teens switching to flip-phones, dubbed the Smartphone Revolution. Brand marketers will have to devise strategies for reaching an increasingly offline customer, while retailers should act on this as an opportunity to push in-person shopping.

Home gamification gets active.

Apple’s new VR goggles got us thinking about the future gamification of homes. We’ve been pacing our clients on VR and the metaverse, knowing we are still a ways from mass adoption. However, two recent innovations gave us a change of heart, demonstrating two truly practical applications that get users up and active. One—a "spatial vacuming" app made for Oculus Quest hardware gamifies cleaning. Created by Shopify engineer Daniel Beauchamp, the software makes an everyday house chore fun and kid friendly. Two—Disney's new Holotile floor functions as an omni-directional, expandable, multi-person treadmill, turning a traditionally sedentary form of entertainment into exercise. Gaming is here to stay and brands need to integrate it into offerings. While the emphasis has been on brand marketing and content consumption, consider using it to make homes, hotels, and hang-out spots more fun, active spaces.

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The Free Press

People are thinking more critically about the content they consume, seeking ideology that re-prioritizes truth. So former NYT columnist Bari Weiss founded a new media company built on “honesty, doggedness, and fierce independence,” tackling divisive and taboo topics first and fairly. Her inaugural live event sold out advertised as an “old fashioned boxing match,” debating whether the sexual revolution has failed, with an opener from uncensored comedian, Tim Dillon. As legacy media loses reverence and Weiss continues creating buzzy, cultural meeting spaces, expect to see The Free Press brand blossom.

I see dead people….in the metaverse.

Happy Halloween! The ghosts of the future are here. When Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Meta’s next-generation VR and AI products, he noted the platform could be used to create virtual avatars of deceased loved ones. While the idea seems a bit creepy and crazy, Chinese burial company Fu Shou Yuan is already bringing it to fruition with holographic projections of the departed that can chat with funeral attendees. At the Illinois Holocaust Museum, visitors can interact with holograms of virtual Holocaust survivors. Moving forward, expect the metaverse to make horror, conspiracy, and spooky narratives feel more real and bring the supernatural into our increasingly unnatural world.

AI is turbocharging advertising.

YouTube recently introduced Spotlight Moments, an advertising package leveraging AI to detect the most popular videos related to cultural events like Halloween or The Oscars. It lets advertisers serve ads across those videos and curates content in a sponsored hub next to the advertiser’s logo, allowing brands to automatically appear alongside the most engaging content associated with the moment. Spotify's new Merch Hub uses AI to personalize recommendations based on users’ listening habits—more money for both the music streamer and artists. Expect the gap between ad spend and performance to tighten.

NFTs enter their flop era.

Like the dot-com bubble, the overhyped valuation and speculative fervor surrounding NFTs came to a head. According to a recent report, over 95% of collections have lost nearly all their value, showcasing how exuberance can precede a sobering market correction. The sharp decline in the worth of NFTs can be attributed to a fundamental misunderstanding of their purpose. Many individuals and brands approached NFTs as a standalone commodity, rather than a tool that provides tangible benefits to their holders.

Web3 pulse check!

While generative AI may be the talk of the town, don’t let the hype cycle fool you. Web3 is moving right along, with plenty of new projects realizing its vision. Following the footsteps of Limewire, Beatport modernizes fandom with a digital collectible marketplace where artists can sell tokenized media for benefits like unreleased tracks or discounted concert tickets. LALA is a similar platform, but for movies and shows, allowing fans to own a piece of their favorite stories and earn profits every time they stream. Mastercard’s Artist Accelerator program helps musicians and creators make their own digital collectibles (which is just the new PR term for NFTs, fyi), POAPs (NFTs rewarded for physical attendance to events, like concerts), token-gated content (content only accessible by NFT holders), and VIP access passes (NFTs granting special privileges like going backstage or meet-and-greets). Digital collectibles will be the foundation to the future loyalty program, but just one part of Web3.