Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023. Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
AI-Driven Efficiency Gains Poised to Revolutionize the Visual Economy
By Tal Lev-Ami, CTO,
Cloudinary
In 2022, internal Cloudinary data
revealed a dramatic rise in image bandwidth traffic: 25% across all
industries. The reason for this is clear. As more and more consumers
rely on digital channels - websites, social media, messaging platforms, etc. -
for entertainment, information, and their everyday shopping, brands need to
capture their attention with highly engaging and fully optimized images and
videos. At the scale of the modern economy, this puts a lot of pressure on
developer teams to maximize efficiency, but also introduces lots of
opportunities for growth. These are the three trends we expect to make a marked
impact on every industry in 2023:
AI
and Machine Learning will be built into the Video Tech Stack
- Video's rising popularity serves to engage
customers, and drive shoppers online. However, in 2023, a successful video
strategy will require more than creating a visually-pleasing video. To
guarantee high levels of engagement, technologies like Artificial Intelligence
(AI) and Machine Learning (ML) need to be integrated into the video production
and marketing strategies of both brands and creators. Not only can AI and ML
help understand a customer's wants and needs-for example, what time they are
more likely to engage with content, or what product they are more likely to be
interested in-but when integrated effectively into the video tech stack, these
technologies makes it possible to enhance all aspects of creative design,
optimization, and personalization at the immense scale required by modern
commerce.
Bringing
more immersive experiences to life will push the adoption of new video and
image codecs like JPEG XL, AV1, etc.
- With that, developers must choose wisely when
it comes to image formats-the wrong format could allow immersive experiences to
sink a site's load time and reliability. JPG is no longer king- major
improvements have been made to compress assets more effectively while offering
more features that will optimize the web experience. WebP adoption has grown
since 2019 and is on track to overtake PNG as the second most frequently used
format. The average WebP file size is roughly 20% smaller than the average
JPEG. AVIF typically compresses more efficiently than JPEG by roughly 50% and
also supports transparency, accommodating both sharp-edged and continuous-tone
imagery. JPEG XL is roughly 60% more efficient than JPEG. In March 2022, the
JPEG XL specification was published as an ISO standard
Optimization
tools will help to reduce online carbon footprints.
- As seen in Cloudinary's State of Visual Media
report, sustainability remains high on the global business agenda, but reducing
emissions can be a complex problem. With so many areas to focus on, companies
often forget the energy sources required to power their company's websites and
apps. In 2023 we'll start to see organizations put more strategies in place to
help reduce their online carbon footprint; image and video optimization tools
will be key to that. When managing thousands to even millions of visual
content, these optimization tools can save bytes and reduce bandwidth without
compromising quality by automating file sizes and compression rates, allowing
for a seamless transition to lower digital footprints. In the State of Visual
Media report, we see firsthand how image optimization is being used not just to
reduce bandwidth and increase performance but to support sustainability goals:
a top international sports apparel brand was able to reduce bandwidth
consumption by 40% from 6.8 TB per day to 4.05 TB per day. Annualized, the
company saved 618 TB of bandwidth, which equals 1,890 tonnes of CO2 saved.
Savings equal to taking more than 400 gasoline-powered cars off the road, or
enough energy to power 368 homes for a year.
As visual storytelling continues to influence business success,
organizations will be held responsible for delivering the qualities consumers
demand while also considering sustainability and longevity. It will be
interesting to see how brands adapt to the rapidly evolving digital landscape
and how these decisions will impact not only business success, but the state of
visual media as well.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tal Lev-Ami, Co-founder and CTO
A computer scientist, Tal Lev-Ami is co-founder and CTO of Cloudinary, a provider of leading media experience solutions. Tal is a superb technologist and has been leading R&D teams for nearly 20 years. Tal holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science, which he received from Tel-Aviv University in 2009, under the supervision of Prof. Shmuel Sagiv.