18 INTERVIEW
is K18 that was doing the same kind of thing as Olaplex, i.e. going into the hair fibre and building bonds between protein strands to make the fibres stronger. As with anything in the
cosmetic industry, then everybody else jumped on the bandwagon and offered a derivative. And the reality is consumers have a hard time noticing real differences. A lot of what’s out there is just
marketing spin that’s not really based on technology. But we do have those two technologies, and there are more in development led by actual science.
TP: You said your other presentation In Bangkok is about AI and cosmetic science. How do you see AI changing things for formulators? PR: When the AI hype first came out, it was said that the big impact of AI would be to help consumers get custom-made beauty products. To me, that’s just a marketing story. What is going to impact
formulators specifically is AI chatbots. If you’re a new chemist coming into our industry, you’re not going to know about the ingredients and what they do. So, a simple thing to do would
be to take an ingredient list and throw in some AI software like ChatGPT or Applaud to come up with a formulation. As a chemist
PERSONAL CARE October 2024
“AI could supercharge what a single chemist can do. They could work on many more brands
than they could before” Perry Romanowski, Chair of education, International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC)
of many years standing, I have just absorbed this information over decades, but with AI we have the answers immediately. The challenge, of course, is
that these AI systems are not 100% accurate. But it’s about 90% correct and that can make a new, novice chemist competitive with somebody who’s been in the industry for 30 years. It’s sad for me to say, but AI can spit out a formula that’s pretty close to what I would start with.
OK, it’s just a starting formula
and you still have to go into the lab and mix things together and adjust percentages to get exactly what you want. But I can see that AI could supercharge what a single chemist can do. They could work on many more brands than they could before, perhaps the work of ten chemists.
This means generating new
formulas, new product ideas, new testing, new ideas, coming up with claims. All of the stuff that chemists have had to do on their own for years, they can get help with these AI tools.
TP: But, of course, the flip side of that is maybe we won’t need as many chemists in the lab. PR: That is a serious problem but it’s a serious problem for everybody in society, not just chemists. I look at the stuff that these AI tools can do, and I have to worry for the next generation. What are they going to do? What jobs are there going to be? Now, the thing about cosmetic
chemistry is you still need somebody to mix the chemicals together, and you still need to take time to do testing, and AI is not going to take over that stuff. If robots start coming on board and mix everything together with a punch of a button, that’d be more worrying. But that might not happen for a few more decades.
TP: In terms of developing new ingredients and molecules, what is the role of AI? PR: AI can certainly help in the upfront development area by identifying potential targets, for example, to create new peptides. I can also see the development of
new polymers that will offer some innovative benefits for consumers. Polymers and peptides are where I think AI is going to have an impact on the raw material suppliers. The big challenge, though, is the
regulations involved in bringing a new ingredient to the market are getting onerous and slowing things up. Also, we don’t have animal testing anymore. That’s a good thing, but it also makes it harder to prove that your chemicals are safe because we don’t really have complete replacements for all animal testing. AI is going to help develop
replacements for animal testing, no doubt, but we don’t have that yet.
TP: What is your advice for new cosmetic chemists? Or maybe you advise them not to be a chemist anymore?! PR: No, I don’t advise that at all. The reality is being a cosmetic chemist is a great job. You can work on a project that you eventually see on the store shelves. You make products that people use every day. It makes them happy. It makes them feel better. It’s still a great industry to get
into but what I will say is don’t ignore AI tools, you have to learn how to use them to make you a better chemist. That’s the way to keep excelling in your career. Some of the old timers are
www.personalcaremagazine.com
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