Can AI Predict Creative Greatness at Cannes? Rise’s Titanium Lions Experiment Puts Machine Judgment to the Test

Rise Creatives Use AI to Predict Cannes Titanium Lions Winners

Rise New York & Partners took on an ambitious project: building an AI engine to predict the winners of the Cannes Titanium Lions. Their approach? Feeding 20 years of Cannes case studies and jury discussions into an AI model, creating what they call the Cannes Titanium Lions AI engine.

Flavio Vidigal, partner and chief creative officer at Rise, alongside global executive creative director Christiano Abrahao, developed this AI agent using Veo3’s AI video generator. The goal was to produce a "generic jury" capable of judging creative work with the perspective of years of Cannes history behind it.

The AI’s Cannes Prediction and What It Means

On the night of the Cannes film awards announcement, the AI judged the Titanium shortlists and selected Heineken’s Pub Succession as its winner. However, the official jury awarded the Titanium Grand Prix to AXA’s Three Words, created by Publicis Conseil.

Vidigal reflects on this outcome: “Creativity isn’t an exact science, and not everything can be measured in data, zeros, and ones.” The AI’s choice highlighted how subjective and emotional creativity judgments can be. Even though the AI missed the official pick, the fact that its winner resonated speaks volumes.

Why the Titanium Category?

The agency chose the Titanium category because it represents work where belief and feeling matter more than polish. As Abrahao explains, “It’s the final word at Cannes for a reason. It doesn’t reward polish. It rewards bad-assery.” This makes it a tough challenge for an AI to predict, but also a fascinating test case.

More Than Just AI Writing Ads

This project isn’t about using AI to create ads. It’s about uncovering the patterns behind what creative work gets celebrated and what gets overlooked. By simulating a Titanium jury, the AI reveals how taste turns into legacy, showing the invisible factors that shape the industry’s history.

Vidigal emphasizes that the AI was neither scripted nor influenced—it reflects how the machine “sees” the industry, raw and unfiltered within the limits of machine learning.

AI as a Tool, Not a Threat

Rise views AI as an invitation for creatives to experiment and push boundaries, not as a threat. “If you’re not experimenting, pushing, provoking, then you’re not in the game. You’re just part of the furniture,” says Vidigal.

Abrahao adds that AI doesn’t change the game; it shines a light on the game creatives have been playing all along, exposing the same patterns, winners, and metrics. “Cannes can either use it to evolve or stay where it is. We’ll see what happens next,” he says.

Visualizing the Experiment

Rise used Veo3’s AI video generation to visualize jury conversations and bring this AI experiment to life. They shared a teaser and full video on LinkedIn and plan to use the project as a learning tool internally.

The process took three days to build, demonstrating the potential of AI to support creative teams by providing new perspectives on longstanding industry traditions.

For creatives interested in exploring how AI can complement their work, tools like this highlight the value of experimenting with AI to gain fresh insights. You can find practical AI courses and resources tailored for creatives at Complete AI Training.