Bombay Sapphire readies world’s largest AI art event

Dive Brief:

Bombay Sapphire and director Baz Luhrmann have teamed for "Saw This, Made This," an art installation experience that combines user-generated art and paintings made by an AI-powered robot, according to a press release.
Ai-Da Robot, billed as the world's first "ultra-realistic artist robot," will paint live in the Eye to A.I. studio as part of the installation, which will be at London's Design Museum (April 21-24) before moving to New York's Chelsea Factory (May 11-13).
The AI-generated art will includes traces of user-generated content previously shared with the #SawThisMadeThis hashtag and demonstrates a novel way for a brand to tap into increased interest around AI with an experiential activation.

Dive Insight:

Bombay Sapphire's "Saw This, Made This" installation is the culmination of an effort that launched last year, with campaign creative director Baz Luhrmann ("Elvis," "Moulin Rouge") asking consumers to share images of what they "saw" and then "made" into art via social media.

Instead of simply turning the submissions into a branded art installation, the Bacardi gin brand is tapping into buzz around AI with what it is billing as the world's largest mass participation AI art event. As part of the installation, guests will be able to see Ai-Da Robot paint images inspired by the #SawThisMadeThis submissions. The final artwork painted by the robot will be made available as a free, limited-edition download via the brand's website.

Bombay Sapphire has frequently made the intersection of art and technology a focus of its campaigns. The brand in 2019 hosted a tech-powered art installation that let the public collectively paint a canvas through robot arms, and in 2021 asked consumers to view a sculpture inspired by the brand’s gin as part of a Sensory Auction. The latest campaign adds an AI element that is quickly becoming a part of marketing efforts. Since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November, interest in generative AI has skyrocketed and quickly become the shiniest penny in the tech and marketing worlds.

"Bombay Sapphire gin is the ideal canvas for creative cocktails and for decades the brand has championed creativity both inside the cocktail glass and beyond; the installation and campaign will continue that support of creatives and emerging artists, ultimately helping more people engage with their creativity," said Natasha Curtin, the brand's global vice president, in the press release.

Perhaps demonstrating another way that generative AI will become a part of marketing efforts, the press release also includes a comment made via Ai-Da Robot's AI language model:

"I am thrilled to be part of this ground-breaking project - creating artwork that will result in the world's largest mass participation A.I. artwork event. It is exciting to know that our combined efforts will reflect the creative works of everyone involved in Saw This, Made This. I cannot wait to see the final artworks; it's going to be so inspiring."