It’s day one of South By Southwest and the conference is in full swing. Thousands of people make their way from panel to panel hoping to squeeze into any remaining seats. One of the first panels of the day, AI: Transforming Luxury, Fashion, and Beauty, discussed the role of AI within magnanimous consumer industries.
Panelists included Guive Balooch of L’Oréal, Megan Berry of by REVEAL, and Tony Pinville of Heuritech.
Pinville launched his company Heuritech in 2013 alongside Charles Ollion after earning his Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning. Pinville’s primary focus lies in creating an algorithm that analyzes thousands of social media images for subtleties in fashion and luxury products.
“Our goal is to use AI to detect trends from images,” Pinville said.
Heuritech also utilizes an AI function called “deep learning” in which the machine learning methods are based on learning data representations instead of task-specific algorithms.
Megan Berry discussed how her company by REVEAL implements AI within the retail market. She says this technology can be used to improve consumer services by providing a personalized experience in addition to the benefits of a physical human element.
“The idea is to enhance user experience and leverage info that can’t be found online and to elevate the in-person experience,” Berry said.
Berry also talked about the power of using influencers to engage with consumers.
“Influencers offer consumer trust, which is the most important factor in this industry,” Berry said.
Guive Balooch is the Global Vice President of L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator. He is majorly responsible for bringing beauty into the tech sphere by creating personal digital beauty experiences. Balooch said when it comes to innovation and developing new ideas, he often turns to startup entrepreneurs for help.
“I couldn’t do anything I’ve done today without partnering with startups,” Balooch said.
Balooch suggested that startups seeking to partner with larger companies like L’Oréal should have a clear story of who they are and how they’re positioned in the industry.
The panelists also addressed the common concern about AI eliminating jobs and leaving thousands of people unemployed.
Balooch insisted that AI is meant to complement the physical experience.
“AI will still require that real human element in order to be effective,” Balooch said.
Find out more about the panel by following its hashtag: #AIforFashionBeauty