Technology and creativity merge to redefine the future at Beyond L.O.V.E.

Once again this year, Beyond becomes a forum for innovation and transformation. In this third edition, it does so by addressing how collaboration between AI and people changes business innovation, driving genuine relationships and disruptive solutions.

In the face of the dizzying advance of technology, machines and people are cooperating more than ever, questioning limits and achieving unimaginable phenomena. To delve deeper into this link that is redefining the future, spokespersons from large companies and the Administration met at Beyond L.O.V.E., the meeting organised by The Cocktail and VML to demonstrate how the relationship between technology and creativity is not additive, but multiplicative, thus allowing the creation of a new category in the sector, differential, relevant and future-proof.

This was demonstrated by Alejandra Martínez de Miguel at the beginning of the meeting. The actress and poet delighted the audience with a short poetry recital. In fact, the first of the poems was elaborated by Alejandra herself, while the next one was a response generated through Generative AI to the poet's art. A clear example of how the collaboration between technology and creativity can result in artistic works that excite.

To introduce this idea, José María Lassalle, an independent consultant and policy analyst, showed how the relationship between humans and Artificial Intelligence is crucial for building a better future. "In this context, talking about love is fascinating because it means breaking the relationship of hostility, fear and uncertainty that accompanies AI with a friendly and potentially creative relationship in itself. This alliance with love is a potential tool that will be a determining factor in our growth as humanity," the expert said.

The event made it clear that in order to achieve successful collaborations it is necessary to take relationships into account. Thus, Maribel Blázquez Rodríguez, professor in the Department of Social Anthropology at the UCM, reflected on the term "affective turn", highlighting the importance of incorporating emotions and affection into life - including the workplace - and delving into the term love, "which has become, in contemporary Western society, one of the main drivers of individual and collective action that directly affects people's lives," Blázquez pointed out.

Therefore, to achieve these genuine relationships, companies must question the methodologies and frameworks that can lead to solutions designed for a world that no longer exists, when designing strategies, products, services or experiences. They must revisit the way they work and operate in both a physical and digital world to make it more inclusive, collaborative and sustainable. In the words of Clara Tió, chief design officer at The Cocktail: "as a private company we have the ability to have an impact on shaping how we do things. The customer driven system is not sustainable. From a design and consultancy perspective we must incorporate other types of tools that begin to make us uncomfortable and that do not only include individual benefit driven by a desire for immediate gratification, but other types of models that include the community, the context and other dimensions".

Philip McKenzie, a cultural anthropologist and strategist, explored how to move from extraction (which is one of the fundamental principles that encompasses economic, social and political life, maximising economic output at the expense of virtually everything else) to an expansive perspective in which we have the capacity to connect and elevate the values of love, care and solidarity, to expand the future and generate lasting impact. "The current culture of extraction is based on precarity, but we have the power to change it to a just and viable future through expansive culture," McKenzie said.

And to achieve the creation of these authentic human relationships, Generative Artificial Intelligence comes into play and, in this context, emerges as a key technology for this new paradigm. Although seen by some as a threat, the true potential of Generative AI lies in its ability to transform business relationships through accessible interfaces, hyper-personalisation and needs prediction. Far from dehumanising, it allows companies to scale empathy and better understand their customers' needs, enabling more authentic and meaningful interactions.

This is achieved through the implementation of Synthetic Archetypes, digital avatars built from extensive consumer research and behavioural science, powered by Generative Artificial Intelligence. These archetypes, by embodying customers' motivations, values, desires, cognitive biases and decision patterns, enable companies to develop a deeper and more empathetic understanding of their consumers.

"AI amplifies these connections by processing large volumes of information. It allows us to learn from it and adjust the avatars' responses dynamically. In this way, companies can continuously interact with these virtual customers, obtaining instant and constant feedback that allows them to adapt their strategies and decisions more quickly and accurately, thus creating empathy at scale," says Sandra González, Behavioral Economics specialist at The Cocktail Analysis.

The meeting ended with a speech by Alberto Barreiro, chief transformation officer at VML, who reflected on the challenge faced by companies in a blocking, saturated context and in search of a competitive advantage.