You Can't Beat the Real Thing? AI Is Making Coca-Cola Flavors Now

By Jose Antonio Lanz

In a play to market its futuristic vision, Coca-Cola has invited global enthusiasts to not merely taste, but experience what the year 3000 might hold: a blend of flavors created with the help of AI.

Coca-Cola Y3000 Zero Sugar is the result of a blend of human perspective and artificial intelligence. The company said it wanted to take insights gathered from fans worldwide and create AI interpretations of them, resulting in a beverage that embodies the aspirations, emotions, and tastes envisioned for the future. 

Oana Vlad, senior director of global strategy at The Coca-Cola Company, paints the endeavor as an "uplifting expression of what Coca‑Cola believes tomorrow will bring.” Writing on the official PR blog of Coca-Cola, she also emphasized the brand's interest in using advanced technologies to craft new experiences and deepen consumer engagement.

Coke is certainly not the first company to tap AI for its products, even if there is little to no relationship between its products and the technology. Brands are playing with AI in nearly every sphere: new types of bread, better autonomous cars, faster shoes, better war machines—you name it.

AI is here, and while the hype might have quieted slightly in recent months, it’s apparently not going anywhere. In fact, experts predict that AI tech will bring over $4 trillion to the economy in the future.    

Apart from the ostensibly futuristic flavor profile, Coca-Cola Y3000 Zero Sugar features a visual identity that is intended to convey optimism. The design was similarly created with artificial intelligence and emphasizes a vision of a “positive future," says Coke.

A banner for Coca-Cola's new flavor co-created with AI. Image: Coca-Cola

Adding a layer of interactivity, consumers can access a Coca-Cola Creations Hub by scanning a QR code printed on Coke packaging. The portal offers a peek into the potential realities of the future, and uses a custom Y3000 AI Cam that allows visitors to visualize their current surroundings through a futuristic lens.

Coca-Cola also revealed the Y3000 Capsule Collection, a merchandising line created in collaboration with the fashion brand Ambush.

Also, this new Coke flavor is sugar free: Does AI know something we don’t?

Recommended News