Dentsu Inc. unleashes "Creative AI"! Automated generation AI solution "CXAI"

Four Dentsu Group companies have jointly released the creative auto-generation AI solution "CXAI".

Takuya Kodama, who oversees Dentsu Inc.'s AI project " AI MIRAI," shares the vision and background behind this solution.

<Table of Contents>
▼Dentsu Inc.'s Journey with AI, Beginning with the "AI Copywriter" in 2017
▼The Increasing Complexity of "CX" and the Advancement of "Collaboration with AI"
▼"CXAI": Achieving Both "Advanced" and "In-House" CX Design
▼The Dilemma: Is Dentsu Inc. Taking Its Own Jobs?
▼CXAI Trial Partners Wanted

Dentsu Inc.'s Journey with AI, Beginning with the "AI Copywriter" in 2017

The first article by AI copywriter "AICO" appeared in Web Dentsu Inc. News in May 2017.

I'm AICO, the AI copywriter.

Back then, it was the height of the "Third AI Boom." The mere fact that AI wrote a catchphrase was novel and became a hot topic everywhere.

Four years have passed since then. During that time, the Dentsu Group formed a group-wide project called AI MIRAI and developed numerous AI solutions.

Beyond catchphrases, we've created banner ad generation, text generation, conversation (chatbots), predictive engines...

Under the keyword "Human-AI Co-Creation," we are exploring a new form of creativity that masterfully utilizes AI as a tool.

And now, we are finally unleashing AI beyond Dentsu Inc.'s walls. That is this "CXAI."

The Increasing Complexity of "CX" and the Advancement of "Collaboration with AI"

Before explaining "CXAI," let me briefly cover the background.

As digital devices and services permeate every corner of daily life, "CX design" has become crucial for businesses.

Here, CX (Customer Experience) refers to the entire sequence of experiences a customer has as they learn about, become interested in, purchase, and continue using a product or brand. CX Design is the process of designing and optimizing all these customer touchpoints.

Digital penetration has diversified customer touchpoints, enabling personalized communication based on data. Conversely, this also means "creative content must now be individually tailored for each customer."

In principle, it is possible to deliver "the optimal creative tailored to each individual" across "every customer touchpoint." In reality, however, the more detailed the design becomes, the more patterns of copy, banners, videos, etc., are required, leading to significant cost and labor issues.

Simply producing large volumes might be manageable with variations like "different copy" or "different layouts," but maintaining quality for both customers and the brand presented a real challenge.

Dentsu Group companies have tackled this challenge by leveraging AI.

As part of AI MIRAI's activities, we independently developed tools including the AI copywriter AICO introduced earlier, the banner ad auto-generation tool ADVANCED CREATIVE MAKER, the effectiveness prediction tools SHAREST and MONALISA, and the chatbot tool Kiku-Hana.

By developing AI equipped with the creative know-how of Dentsu Inc. and applying it to actual work, we have explored methods to "efficiently produce high-quality, optimized creative for each individual customer" ( ).

"CXAI" achieves both the "advancement" and "in-house development" of CX design

CXAI is the solution that unleashes these AI systems—developed and refined internally by the Dentsu Group—beyond the Group, driving the in-house production (internalization) of clients' creative processes.

"CXAI" is a service that combines and delivers the Dentsu Group's diverse AI solutions (referred to as "modules" within CXAI) according to client requirements.

The key point is the ability to select and customize the appropriate modules based on each client's specific challenges, enabling the rapid development and delivery of original "creative auto-generation tools."

As of May 2021, over 15 AI modules are available through "CXAI." Primarily featuring modules actually used within the Dentsu Group, examples include the following AI modules:

• AI Copywriter "AICO"
• Banner Auto-Generation & Effect Prediction Tool "ADVANCED CREATIVE MAKER"
• Proprietary Chatbot Tool "Kiku-Hana"
• Trend Forecasting Tool "TREND SENSOR"
• Social Ad Effect Prediction Tool "MONALISA"

By combining these tools, you can develop custom solutions for challenges such as:

We provide the creative auto-generation tools developed this way as web applications . This enables anyone to easily create various types of content .

Yes, this "CXAI" supports the "in-house production process" that is increasingly in demand across various industries today. In other words, for fairly standardized creative work, using "CXAI" enables companies to quickly produce high-quality content in-house.

The basic approach is to use "CXAI" for in-house production while continuing to outsource highly creative work that AI cannot achieve to professional creators. This improves both cost and speed, enabling the delivery of richer customer experiences.

AI for CX improvement—that's why it's "CXAI."

Developing creative auto-generation tools traditionally required significant upfront investment, including AI development budgets. With "CXAI," we leverage AI modules already in use across Dentsu Group companies for operational tasks, reducing development effort and costs. Naturally, since this AI incorporates the expertise of Dentsu Inc. creators, a certain level of quality is guaranteed.

How about it? Are you starting to get curious?

Samples of site banners automatically generated by CXAI (top: finance, bottom: health foods). Visuals and copy can be generated by AI or use a company's own materials. Output is in an editable format, allowing for final manual fine-tuning.

The dilemma: Is Dentsu Inc. taking its own jobs?

We actually agonized over launching this service.

The reason being,

"By making AI available to clients and promoting in-house adoption, are we taking away the creators' jobs!?"

I anticipated this reaction would be quite common. If you've been thinking along these lines so far, you're not alone. Let me address this concern.

"CXAI" is not about having AI handle all production work! As before, the evolution of "AI for creators" will continue.

Moreover, we believe the work of "creators" will not diminish—it will expand into new fields.

What does this mean? Here's a diagram to illustrate:

① Human creators will be able to tackle more fundamental challenges than ever before.

By having AI support the practical work of production, creators can allocate their resources to tackling more fundamental challenges, deepening research, and designing robust strategies.

② Advancing human-AI collaboration beyond current levels enables the creation of new value.

When production volumes become too large for humans alone to handle, or when personalization becomes possible, new ideas tailored to these scenarios emerge.

Human creators provide high-level direction, while AI streamlines actual production and operations. Furthermore, standardized production and operational tasks are tooled as "CXAI," blending in-house and outsourced workflows for practical implementation.

By mutually refining each other, AI and humans enable the smooth execution of sophisticated marketing strategies.

③Creator expertise can now be leveraged even in areas previously beyond their reach.

We will modularize the AI created in ② and expand its use as "CXAI" across various companies and tasks. This will allow creators' expertise to be freely applied through AI in diverse fields—not just "advertising," but also in-store, tools, PR/communications, and internal communications.

Creators will focus on crafting higher-level expressions and exciting experiences than ever before. Humans and AI will collaborate to realize these with high precision. The outcomes born from this collaboration will be "CXAI"—empowered to stand on its own—and utilized beyond advertising and marketing to achieve the ideal CX.

This is precisely the "human-AI collaboration" we at the Dentsu Group strive to achieve.

We are currently recruiting "CXAI" Trial Partners.

I know this might sound a bit ambitious, but what do you think?

CXAI is still a brand-new service. It's unknown how well the AI modules we've developed will hold up in real-world use. We'll likely need to "retrain" the AI quite a bit (Hang in there, AICO!).

Therefore, CXAI is recruiting "Trial Partners" for its launch. If you're interested in trying it out, please contact us at the email address below. Let's explore new creative possibilities in the AI era together.

May the AI we've nurtured with care prove useful to you all...!

　CXAI Secretariat Email: aimirai@dentsu.co.jp
　Ill ust ration : Yuri Fujisaki