Matilde:

Prior to our Master Class with Dave Birss, I was a long-standing AI sceptic who’d once used Chat GPT to translate a French essay. After this week, I have a Midjourney subscription and the Microsoft Edge browser installed on my laptop for the first time in 12 years. I know, I sound like a convert. Someone forward me the petition for Midjourney to become its own app. 

The reality is the experience of using each AI software was wildly different. I got decent results by following Dave’s advice to write more detailed prompts on Chat GPT, and I’m keen to experiment further. Bing’s AI tool (Dalle-3?) was by far the best AI-powered image creation tool I’ve tried so far, while I Midjourney was pretty underwhelming – though given its reputation I have a feeling that came down to my poor choice in prompts. I also dabbled in AI video creation tools. After a failed attempt to use Midjourney for this purpose, I experimented with Runway, but the results were unsatisfactory (from my understanding this tool might still be in development). Overall, it was an enjoyable, if at times confusing, experience. I’m actually looking forward to exploring AI further so I can maximise its benefits in my next project. 

Carlota:

Prior to SCA, I was an AI sceptic – not only did I think it was relegated to the kingdom of ‘geek-land’, but deep down, I was also very afraid of it. Mind you, I’m still not 100% an AI convert; however, as someone with limited skills in Art Direction, you can count me as one of Adobe’s Generative AI tool’s number one fans. In fact, after our first Gen AI class a few weeks ago, I was so impressed that I went home to show my friends and family how powerful that thing was (to my surprise, they thought it was pretty meh.) 

When it came to this New Product Development project, we used AI functions in unexpected ways. What is most interesting, is how at the beginning of the task, we had to remind each other to refer to AI as per the brief – a few hours in however, we got into the flow of using this new paintbrush with ease and enthusiasm. For my part, I referred to Chat GPT and Bing Dalle-3 software to help brainstorm tag lines and product names. Let’s just say it was a learning curve for woman and machine, but we got there in the end! I wouldn’t say this was a ground-breaking experience because for the most part, it was essentially like using a very smart thesaurus: 

Eventually, I scanned through the list that Chat GPT had provided and played a game of scrabble with letters and words before arriving at our current name: Cadbury Glow Snaps. To be fair, I had already thought about calling the product Snaps – but Chat GPT was helpful in finding a third word nonetheless. 

As a team, we also had fun exploring what the super AI Bing Dalle-3 had to offer – it was a rocky road. It just couldn’t get our chocolate product to look just right, but nothing a few manual edits on Photoshop couldn’t fix. To be fair, our prompts were probably not up to scratch and with more time, I would have loved to explore those 3-4 page prompts the AI gurus speak of. There’s always next time! 

Until then, I’m looking forward to expanding my AI skills so that in the not-so-distant-future, I can work in tandem with a super powerful intelligent machine, and not for it. 

Tanvi: 
My first attempt at using AI for this project was when I was trying to find a strapline for our bonfire product. 

Prompt: Please give me straplines for a glow in the dark chocolate product that needs to be snapped for it to glow. 

Responses: “Snap for Sweet Sparks: Illuminate Your Indulgence!” 

“Snap, Savor, Sparkle: Chocolate That Glows on Command!” 

“Snap to Shine: A Chocolate Experience Like No Other.”

“Snap, Glint, Delight: Glow-Ready Chocolates in an Instant.” 

“Glow-on-Demand: Snap into Chocolate Brilliance!” 

“Snap, Ignite, Indulge: The Future of Chocolate Is Here.” 

“Snap to Illuminate: Where Taste Meets Radiance.” 

“Unleash the Glow: Chocolate That Answers to You.” 

“Snap, Glow, Repeat: Elevate Your Chocolate Experience.” 

“Snap for Luminescence: Brighten Your Chocolate Moments.”

@matildembasto, @loti___dl and Tanvi