The Future Normal · Part 2
Guilt-Free Indulgence
What if you didn’t have to give up products and experiences that are not great for you or the planet?
What if you didn’t have to give up products and experiences that are not great for you or the planet?
The Trend
People say they want to buy responsibly and then routinely take the easier, cheaper or more convenient option, because our desire is there but our actions are inconsistent. The opportunity is not to demand more sacrifice but to remove the trade-off entirely. In the future normal, more products and experiences will let people indulge without the guilt, from mushroom leather to lab-grown gems, and the certification ecosystem behind them will keep growing.
The Instigator
Dale Vince has a habit of launching ambitious ideas, including a vegan carbon-neutral soccer club and Britain’s first national electric vehicle charging network back in 2011. Skydiamond sells carbon negative lab-grown diamonds made from captured CO2, collected rainwater and renewable energy, certified by the International Gemological Institute and visually indistinguishable from mined stones. Vince calls them bling without the sting, a pointed reference to the conflict, human rights abuses and colonial history behind the traditional supply.
Imagining The Future Normal
Can AI simulations help scale the production of guilt-free alternatives?
Early innovations for guilt-free alternatives to common products often struggle to scale production. Could AI-enabled simulation accelerate the development of next-generation materials or allow faster iterative testing to help inventive new products scale and hit store shelves more quickly?
Will personalization reshape the adoption of guilt-free products?
One person’s acceptable indulgence is another person’s red line. As algorithms become better at understanding individual values and guilt triggers, we could see hyper-personalized “ethical hedonism” recommendations that alleviate individuals’ concerns rather than one-size-fits-all sustainability messaging.
How will AI enable new categories of virtual guilt-free indulgences?
Beyond VR travel experiences, AI-generation tools offer novel forms of consumption, such as simulated environments or digitally enhanced entertainment experiences that deliver pleasure without the usual physical resources. These will not only enable new forms of entertainment but also help sidestep traditional sustainability concerns altogether.
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