What AI thinks about the world’s most famous companies

• AI image generator creates images when given brand names as prompts
• Model produces an array of intricate images based on names of major companies from worlds of fashion, tech and more

New research has revealed how the world’s biggest brands are seen by artificial intelligence.

The study by online shopping site Ubuy South Africa, a cross-border shopping platform, used AI image generator MidJourney to create images which used the world’s most famous brands as a prompt, with the model creating a selection of four pictures for each.

The results reveal how the image generation system creates images which often closely align with the brand’s style and product, based on just a single word prompt.

 

Coca Cola, Pepsi

  

Two of the world’s biggest drinks brands get similar treatment from the AI. Each of the eight images is a portrait of a woman, with the brands’ iconic colours well represented. In three of the Coca Cola images the woman is holding a drink, although the colours of the liquid are more red and orangey than Coke usually looks, whereas none of the Pepsi images features an obvious drink. The women in the Coke images call to mind film stars from previous decades, while the Pepsi images seem to be more superhero-inspired.

Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft

      

Using “Facebook” as a prompt produces some slightly darker results than other brands, including a large skull surrounded by smaller bones, a woman being haunted by gruesome floating heads, and a person sat in an apparent wasteland strewn with computers. The AI’s interpretation of Amazon blends the river and rainforest with the tech giant, with the images featuring stacks of books and packages in the middle of trees and vines. The results for Google are the most colourful of the tech companies, depicting castles in the sky surrounded by floating balloons, with hints of Google’s multi-colour logo. Microsoft gets the most varied set of images, ranging from greenery and water to a woman holding a tablet and a futuristic cylindrical cityscape.

Nike, Adidas

  

Both Nike and Adidas results in colourful product shots of the companies’ shoes, splashed in multiple paint colours. The brands’ logos are accurately reproduced for the most part, except for one Adidas shoe which features four stripes rather than the brand’s signature three.

 

Honda, BMW, Tesla, Toyota

      

The results for some of the world’s biggest car manufacturer vary considerably. Honda as a prompt produces motorcycle-focused imagery – two featuring a female rider, and two vehicles by themselves. BMW gets a more historical treatment, with retro-looking vehicles against mountain backdrops. The Tesla images all feature a man who could be interpreted as an amalgamation of Nikola Tesla and Elon Musk, alongside a car, and always in front of a fiery and stormy background. The car is the star in the Toyota images, although it appears in some weird and wonderful places, with strange creatures being a consistent theme.

 

Gucci, Louis Vuitton

  

The results for Gucci are all portraits of women in flowery outfits and surrounded by flowers as well as other animals – immaculately groomed dogs appear in two of the pictures, while exotic birds perch on a model’s shoulders in one. Louis Vuitton’s handbags take centre stage in three of the four images, while the fourth, like Gucci’s, features a female model in an outfit that is adorned with flowers.

Commenting on the results, a spokesperson for Ubuy South Africa said: “AI fever has swept the world over the past year, and businesses are scrambling to figure out how best they can take advantage of it to improve efficiency and profits, so it’s interesting to see how artificial intelligence interprets some of the biggest businesses in the world. The results show that these brands have very strong identities, and the people in charge of the companies will likely be pleased that the image generator produces results which, in the majority of cases, show the brand in a flattering light.”