• by Laurie Sullivan , Yesterday

The Brandtech Group will financially back the Centre for Creative AI (CCAI) scheduled to open in the autumn at University College London (UCL), and Royal College of Art.

"The CCAI is a new forum dedicated to exploring and showcasing breakthroughs across the creative industries," Mark Eaves, CEO and founder of Gravity Road, which is part of The Brandtech Group, wrote in an email to MediaPost. "Advertising stands out as an early proving ground, where culture meets commerce and innovation moves at pace."

He wrote that GAI is too often framed narrowly as a tool for streamlining day-to-day marketing operations. The CCAI’s ambition is more expansive -- to spark new ideas created in new and exceptional ways, not limited to creative communications. It extends across the full marketing spectrum, from reimagining product design to pioneering immersive brand experiences.

The initiative combines academia and industry to explore the potential of generative AI (GAI) across media, fashion, entertainment, and design. The centre has partnered with several organizations.

Giles Hedger, global consumer planning director at Diageo, said the company uses AI throughout its marketing, and "this partnership is an opportunity to collaborate with the world’s best, to push our thinking beyond the productivity layer, harnessing technology to grow our brands through ever-deeper consumer connection.”

In addition to Diageo, founding supporters include Unilever, Snap, Runway, and Cooley. The centre aims to spark commercially viable creative applications while tapping into the innovation power of student and alumni networks.

Alex Mahon, the outgoing Channel 4 CEO, will chair the centre. Channel 4 is a publicly owned and commercially funded public service media organization.

The Centre will set the agenda, focus on opportunities and catalyze the creation of commercially viable projects.          

The goal is to connect companies with student and alumni of leading universities to “stimulate a diverse range of inspired challenges, thought leadership, and learning and development to build a deeper understanding of the application and impact of AI across creative disciplines.”

The new Centre will draw from the UCL Centre for AI, UCL Arts and Sciences, and will also access The Royal College of Art students at the intersection of arts and science, AI and creativity.

UCL, which recently received two Nobel Prizes for its work in AI, has long been at the forefront of the AI revolution.