Each sector explores today the possibilities offered by the generative AI, whether it involves automating repetitive tasks or designing innovative products and services. The beauty sector, historically at the forefront of new technologies, is no exception. It is in this dynamic that L’Oréal, the world leader in cosmetics, has just established a strategic partnership with NVIDIA, aimed at accelerating the large -scale deployment of generative AI within its activities.
L’Oréal is not a novice in terms of AI, and I have been close to its progress since 2019. However, the company today seems fully aware that the game has changed: generative AI, capable of creating new content from existing data, promises to be a key lever for its future.
During the Vivatech fair in Paris last month, L’Oréal formalized its integration into the AI Enterprise of Nvidia microservices ecosystem. Among the first initiatives is an innovative project that revolutionizes industry, covering design and marketing, with 3D product visualizations intended for promotion and research.
Is the Oréal about to launch a major transformation thanks to AI? And how does the entire beauty-cosmetics sector take hold of these disruptive opportunities? Let’s explore together.
How does the Oréal exploit generative AI?
Thanks to its partnership with NVIDIA, L’Oréal will strengthen its CREAITECH generative AI platform, capable of creating visualizations and content from product models. The objective: to accelerate the design and production of 3D images and models for marketing and research.
This automated process allows creative teams to test and quickly adjust various marketing strategies. Visuals can even be personalized for specific customers or adapted to the particularities of local markets.
The local adaptation of the products is crucial, but also very greedy in resources for manufacturers of packed consumer goods. The generative AI here offers real potential for optimization and efficiency.
The projects unveiled so far as part of the partnership are the bases of future generative AI initiatives within L’Oréal. At the heart of this strategy: AI Répinery, a new development tool that feeds Noli, the beauty market place recently launched by L’Oréal and propelled by AI. Operating the vast databases of the company on skin types, hair colors and products, this tool creates intelligent search engines and other applications dedicated to consumers.
Another illustration of IA innovation in L’Oréal: Beauty Genius, the personal beauty assistant with generative AI. Designed to combat overload of information on a saturated market, Beauty Genius offers 24 -hour personalized advice, based on exclusive knowledge of L’Oréal, dermatological data and real -time virtual test tools. Thanks to generative AI, augmented reality and computer vision, it recommends suitable routines, answers the most intimate questions, and guides users to ideal products according to their complexion, hair type and beauty concerns: all in a secure and intuitive interface.
These examples are only the first fruits of a larger site. L’Oréal intends to deploy generative AI through all its functions, thanks to its partnership with Nvidia, to ahead of its competitors. But the company also has its own ambitions and projects internally.
How are other major players in industry positioned?
The beauty giants were among the first to adopt artificial intelligence, and this dynamic intensified with the arrival of the generative AI.
Beyond L’Oréal, Estée Lauder recently joined Adobe to accelerate the creation and launch of digital marketing campaigns, based on the generative Firefly AI platform and its APIs. The brand has also developed a voice makeup assistant intended to facilitate the application for the visually impaired, by guiding the user step by step and by suggesting personalized improvements.
Unilever also relies on generative AI to offer “ultra-personalized experiences”. Its Dove brand has launched a virtual scalp therapist who provides advice expert in skin care, thus reinforcing the personalized link with its customers.
This development is part of a broader trend, observed in several sectors, where generative AI allows you to create closer and more authentic interactions with consumers. A Salesforce study confirms that 76 % of marketers today use generative AI to produce basic content, and 63 % to analyze their marketing data.
In addition, start-ups and scale-ups specialized in AI also bring their stone to the building. This is the case of aims, which offers Google Cloud a range of IA tools dedicated to skin care and makeup. These solutions allow more modest players, which do not have their own infrastructure, to benefit from advanced tools to enrich their customer offer.
A new horizon for the beauty and cosmetics industry
We only touch the surface of what generative AI can really bring. If marketing and customer interactions often serve as a privileged experimentation field, the use of this technology will soon extend to the design and test of the products themselves.
For example, L’Oréal recently announced an initiative aimed at developing an AI model capable of reducing the waste of materials and energy during product formulation, a key issue for sustainability.
Like other sectors, AI will also be increasingly mobilized to optimize internal processes, whether it is recruitment, integration of employees, or even legal and regulatory management.
In addition, a new generation of “agentic” tools and platforms promises to automate even more complex tasks, opening the way to a next wave of major innovations.
With the democratization of SaaS solutions, generative AI is no longer limited to great actors such as L’Oréal or Estée Lauder. This means that the next revolution in the world of beauty may well come from an unexpected actor. The opportunities are immense for those who will be able to surf this new wave.
A contribution from Bernard Marr for Forbes US – translated by Lisa Deleforterie
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