Unilever does not intend to be left behind in the company's digitalization. The multinational is adding new efforts to remain at the forefront in terms of product launch and is doing so with a great ally such as artificial intelligence. As explained by the company, Unilever is incorporating artificial intelligence tools throughout the entire product development process in the beauty and wellbeing segment.
According to Premium Beauty News, artificial intelligence is allowing formulation times to be reduced from five or six days to one or two and is better adapting claims in 75% of cases.
As stated by Jason Harcup, Head of R&D at Unilever Beauty & Wellbeing, "for our 4,500 researchers, AI is not just a time saver; it is changing the way we discover, collaborate, and innovate." Harcup explained to Premium Beauty News that their artificial intelligence systems have helped them discover new challenges, such as extracting insights from the large amount of data they manage, which truly make them innovative by capturing consumers' true needs as quickly as possible.
Harcup highlighted that artificial intelligence plays a crucial role at Unilever, especially in finding out consumers' needs and desires in real-time and tracking early conversations on topics that may become trends with 60% faster speed compared to the tools previously used at Unilever.
The specialized beauty media also highlighted that Unilever integrates artificial intelligence to facilitate the work of its researchers and laboratory technicians; it is easier to connect and analyze an extensive database. For example, they explain that the developed system is capable of connecting more than 150,000 scientific documents from decades of research, and its AI-generated virtual cohorts use existing microbiome datasets to analyze about 2,500 subjects simultaneously.
The company has trained more than 40,000 employees through AI training programs to ensure that artificial intelligence is used effectively and in a useful and responsible manner.
"We are committed to an ethical use of artificial intelligence and to clear principles on AI responsibility. Maintaining the vision of the human being and the specialist, the principles of our company, and guaranteeing the scientific vision will always be at the center of decision-making," assured Unilever's Head of Artificial Intelligence.