Coca-Cola embraces controversial AI image generator with new “Y3000” flavor

The lack of an AI mixologist at the helm is probably a good thing because AI has been known to concoct questionable recipes. Nobody needs toxic ingredients accidentally confabulated into their soda recipe. (Would Coca-Cola feed its vaulted top-secret recipe through a commercial cloud AI model, such as ChatGPT, anyway?)

While there may be no AI flavors involved, the company talks about using AI to develop Y3000’s graphical branding: “Coca‑Cola Y3000 Zero Sugar sports an equally futuristic—and optimistic—visual identity. Co-created with artificial intelligence, the design showcases liquid in a morphing, evolving state, communicated through form and color changes that emphasize a positive future.”

The graphic design is not the only place Stable Diffusion plays a part in the Y3000 marketing package. On its website, Coca-Cola provides an AI-augmented QR code (likely generated with a recently discovered Stable Diffusion technique). When scanned on a mobile phone, the code takes thirsty users to the “Coca‑Cola Creations Hub,” where they can take photos with their device camera and filter them through Stable Diffusion to have a vaporwave-style futuristic look.

As it stands today, the term “artificial intelligence” is a technical term of art, yet it’s also arguably sometimes meaningless due to misunderstandings and misuse. Now that it has become marketing jargon for a multinational food and beverage company, the trend toward watering down AI’s meaning seems likely to continue.

Coca-Cola says that the zero-sugar version of the new AI-augmented soda will be available for a limited time in “select markets” including the United States, Canada, China, Europe, and Africa. Thirsty futuristic folks in the US and Canada will also be able to buy an “original taste version” of Coca‑Cola Y3000 soon.