How AI is helping dogs find forever homes

Thanks to OZ’s Kacie Burton for sharing an article about an AI-based campaign from Pedigree, launched in New Zealand, which has captured an Outdoor Grand Prix at Cannes this week.

The goal of Pedigree’s Adoptable initiative is to reduce adoption time for rescue dogs living in shelters. The AI is trained to recognize thousands of dog breeds, and then uses that learning to transform dog photos taken by employees and volunteers at shelters and rescues into something more professional looking – and deploys them in outdoor advertising.

A QR code on each ad sends you to a personalized landing page for that specific dog.  When the dog is adopted, it is automatically dropped from the ad rotation.  And the dog featured in the ad you see is located in your area, so it is relatively easy to completely the adoption process.

It even goes as far as to match the dogs featured to the locations they are best suited for – e.g. a dog that needs a lot of space to run might not appear in an ad that would show up near a dense warren of apartment complexes.

The campaign has succeeded in driving more visits to shelters and more successful adoptions, and Pedigree wants all digital touchpoints to feature Adoptable technology by 2026.