Coca-Cola is crediting artificial intelligence with the creation of its newest flavor of cola, Y3000.
Both the visual design of the product and the actual flavoring were formulated with the help of AI, the company said Tuesday.
Y3000, as the name suggests, invokes the possible consumer palates of people in the year 3000. The visual identity, meanwhile, uses violet, cyan, magenta and silver to represent what consumers see as futuristic.
Coca-Cola Y3000 was “created to show us an optimistic vision of what’s to come, where humanity and technology are more connected than ever,” the product page for the zero-sugar variety of the soda reads.
To help AI help them, researchers at the company gathered “key flavor preferences and trends to understand what consumers imagine and think the future tastes like,” a spokesperson explained to CNBC.
“We hope that Coca‑Cola will still be as relevant and refreshing in the year 3000 as it is today, so we challenged ourselves to explore the concept of what a Coke from the future might taste like,” Oana Vlad, senior director of global strategy at Coca-Cola, said in a statement.
The company did not say what flavors Y3000 will be blending together. Ms. Vlad previously told CNN regarding a previous limited-time flavor that “the flavor profile is always, we say, 85 to 90% Coke. And then that 10-to-15% twist of something unexpected.”
A regular Coke-based version will be available in North American markets including Mexico, while the zero sugar offering will be available in Europe, Africa, China, the U.S. and Canada.
The limited-edition soda is the latest in the company’s Creations line, which has featured other short-time soda offerings around other high concept “flavors,” including Coca-Cola Move, Coca-Cola Dreamworld, and Coca-Cola Soul Blast.
These short-time sodas with mysterious flavoring, Coca-Cola said, are meant to capitalize on what’s hot right now, in this particular case AI and the future.
“The role of every drop is to leverage the latest, most advanced technologies and cultural trends to create novel experiences,” Ms. Vlad said.
