Weekly roundup

Digital activations and sustainable advancements dominated headlines this week.

• AI activations continue to make headlines in music, work, and media. Influencers and creators will soon be able to generate avatars using AI on TikTok, according to The Verge. Other platforms are putting AI to work to elevate their creative output: tech-marketing agency Codeword added two AI interns to its creative team this week, per Globe Newswire. Another “win” for AI: music artist Grimes declared she was willing to split royalties 50-50 with any hit AI song that uses her voice according to Insider, a response to backlash from a viral AI-generated song that featured Drake and The Weeknd without their permission.
• Diversity and inclusion advanced in children’s toys this week after Barbie released a new doll with Down’s syndrome, per the BBC.
• A surge in faith in young people – particularly in gen Zers, according to The Wall Street Journal – offers insight into the generation’s aspirations, beliefs, and desire for connection and community.
• Dominica, an island in the Caribbean, is putting its climate optimism on full display with a new pledge to become the world’s first climate-resilient nation, per BBC Future Planet. In another bid for sustainable advancements, a citron farm in Calabria, Italy is leveraging solar tech to save their climate-stressed crops, per BBC Future Planet.
• VML Paris and L’Oréal unveiled the first direct-to-avatar virtual hair products in the metaverse, reported by LBB Online. As the first direct-to-avatar hairstylist in the metaverse, the ‘Gravitas’ drop includes five larger-than-life styles for gamers on Ready Player Me, Roblox and Zepeto.
• A win for electric vehicles: Tesla dropped the price of its Model Y below the average vehicle price according to Bloomberg.
• Office spaces in Manhattan are emptying out as a new workplace and non-linear workdays continue to gain favor with employees, per The New York Times.