Once a signifier of luxury or novelty, custom products and services are now within reach of the everyday consumer, thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence, algorithm-led platforms, and the COVID-era digitisation boom. Today, everyone wants to be the main character of their brand experience.

The mainstreaming of AI is setting a new precedent for how people relate to non-human sources of intelligence. While automation on a consumer level has typically focused on specific tasks like replying to emails or budgeting, it’s now swiftly expanding to a more dynamic range of applications.

When author Kyle Chayka explored 2010s minimalism in Longing for Less, a very different world existed. Today, a polycrisis-ridden and digitally saturated society finds people yearning for more. Whether you chalk it up to post-pandemic release or a general sense of impending doom, people are now looking for a...

People are craving comfort. Amid what can feel like a state of constant crisis – a layering of traumatic societal events – it can sometimes seem like we’ve lost a sense of scale and cohesion. In the face of this, the desire to retreat into nostalgia is more seductive than ever.

Hell Energy turned to several AI systems to help create its latest energy drink – the technology influenced everything from the aesthetics to the ingredients. With consumers increasingly seeking dietary alternatives, AI food products and recipes are helping to drive innovation and discovery.

In its recent campaign, Coca-Cola used Stable Diffusion to envision what the brand and beverages could look and taste like in the year 3000. However, with AI image generators getting backlash due to the risks they pose to artists, it’s difficult to say whether their efforts will resonate.

Australians care deeply about the future of the environment and support brands that feel the same way. At Re, a bespoke cocktail bar in Sydney, drinks are crafted from recycled food waste without being preachy, standing ground as an ally of a growingly eco-conscious Australian market.