Pedro Lerma on celebrating cultural diversity through AI

Ad Age is marking Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 with our Honoring Creative Excellence package, in which members of the Hispanic community revisit some of their favorite creative projects. (Read the introduction here.) Today, guest editor Pedro Lerma, founder and CEO of Dallas-based independent agency Lerma/, writes about launching its project Amplify AI. As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to an end, a recurring sentiment echoes in my mind. It is a sentiment often expressed by diverse, marginalized communities when their heritage and contributions are celebrated for a finite period each year. They rightfully declare, “Why limit the celebration of Hispanic heritage, African American heritage, Pride or the rights and achievements of people with disabilities to just one month? These should be celebrated year-round.” This very thought serves as motivation for the diverse and inclusive agency we have created at Lerma/. Lerma/ began its journey as a Hispanic agency. Over time, our agency has evolved, mirroring the increasingly multicultural society we inhabit. We’re especially proud that Lerma/’s employee demographics match the current U.S. demographics almost exactly. So today, we identify ourselves as an agency for the new general market—one that is not so general after all. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is not just lip service. Each day, our team diligently works toward embodying these principles, and I am excited to share an example of that commitment here. In line with our ethos, we are consciously choosing Hispanic Heritage Month to unveil a new project called Amplify AI. Our vision for this project was to push the boundaries of technology in order to celebrate cultural diversity. The resulting concept is a vibrant AI music video—a visual and auditory feast—that celebrates multiculturalism. In this piece, we challenged generative AI to bring live-action footage to life through animation. As viewers embark on this audiovisual journey, they will notice the seamless transition of animation styles, each harmoniously synchronizing with diverse musical genres—Tamil kuthu, reggaeton and hip hop. The dance sequences, performed by Lerma/’s finest dancers, are a visual testament to their corresponding cultures, further enhanced by animation styles inspired by art from those cultures as well. As a peek behind the curtain, I will share that the journey to create Amplify AI was filled with tremendous complexity. From the beginning, our team knew this project would require extensive experimentation. One of the early hurdles was ensuring the seamless integration of artificial intelligence, live video and animation. The glitches were many, but our team was relentless in finding solutions. With that said, the most significant challenge we faced was the racial bias encountered in the AI-generated animation process. The early animated renderings predominantly reflected Anglo physical features, not representing the rich cultural diversity of our team members who danced in the video. So, without intending to, we had uncovered a major deficiency in AI, which we then felt compelled to address. We counteracted AI’s current limitations by developing a model leveraging Stable Diffusion, which allowed for more culturally representative recognition and animation of diverse individuals. This model, shared on the Hugging Face platform, is now a resource for others seeking to create multicultural and representative imagery utilizing AI. The name Amplify AI is intentionally a triple entendre because we feel like this project makes three significant contributions. First, it is amplifying diverse cultures. Second, it is amplifying generative AI by teaching it to be more inclusive. And finally, we believe it is amplifying the way others can think about using AI for good in our industry and beyond. In light of the sentiment I shared at the beginning of this piece, I am incredibly proud of the efforts our dedicated team is making to ensure multiculturalism is appropriately represented and celebrated in our industry’s work. I hope Amplify AI serves as a source of enjoyment and inspiration as well as a reminder of the beautiful tapestry of diversity that enriches our world. In the spirit of this Hispanic Heritage Month, we at Lerma/ extend a warm and heartfelt invitation to all to join in the celebration of global cultures this month. And every month. Sign up for Ad Age newsletters From influencer marketing to agencies, get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox Click here

Pedro Lerma on celebrating cultural diversity through AI

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