AI could make physical experiences extraordinary – Beyond X Howard Saunders

There is another side to the AI story.

Technology doesn’t have to compete with physical experience. It can make physical experience extraordinary.

Look at the scale and spectacle of Sphere in Las Vegas, Outernet in London or ABBA Voyage. They point towards a world where digital technology, physical space, storytelling, sound and spectacle increasingly merge.

AI will accelerate what is possible.

For shopping centres, that creates an entirely new creative palette. Imagine environments that change throughout the day, respond to the people within them, or transform around seasons, events and cultural moments. Architecture becomes a canvas. Public spaces tell stories. Light, sound, screens and digital installations create moments of surprise, theatre and discovery.

But perhaps the biggest shift will be cost.

Experiences of this kind have traditionally been expensive to conceive, create and constantly refresh. AI will dramatically reduce the time and resources required to generate content, imagery, animation, sound and storytelling. What was once the preserve of major destinations with enormous production budgets could become accessible to shopping centres everywhere.

And because content becomes easier to create, experiences don’t have to remain static for years. They can continually evolve, giving people new reasons to return.

That matters because physical places can do something digital channels cannot: create shared experiences, memories and moments of serendipity.

The winners won’t necessarily be the places with the most technology. They’ll be the places that use it most creatively to generate the strongest emotional response.

Technology shouldn’t replace the experience. It should make the experience unforgettable.