• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 17, 2024

Of all the new year prediction pitches I've received, I have to admit I did not see "generativeIRL" coming. But that's the one that caught my attention from Havas Red's just-published "Red Sky Predictions 2024" report.

You can click on it below to launch an e-reader version of it, which despite being oddly 2.0, if you want to read its other seven 2024 predictions, but I just want you to dwell on the 8th wonder of 2024 for a moment: brands using generative AI to augment real-life experiences.

Okay, so that's not entirely new either. A variety of tech have been doing that for years, including, well AR (augmented reality), but according to Havas Red, "we'll integrate [generative AI] into our social media and the IRL [in real-life] experiences we create for brands."

My initial reaction to the concept of generativeIRL was: "Isn't that an oxymoron?"

Then again, if you think about the root meaning of "generative," haven't humans been doing that long before AI?