Boots to Bots - Gen AI is the New Hot Accessory
Whether we’re ready or not, AI - especially AI generated imagery - has evolved like never before. The days we could dismiss pilot chatbots and early language models as incapable of human reasoning are long gone. AI quickly became a powerful reality, blurring the lines between authentic and synthetic images and videos. Even creative industries, once seemingly untouchable, have begun to feel the effects.
Does AI Threaten Creativity?
The evolution of generative imaging has completely disrupted the creative industry, where stock images, marketing materials, even modelling campaigns, can now be spun up with the click of a button. Content has never been easier to create, and advertising will be changed forever. H&M recently earned mixed feedback for pioneering a digital twin program that will use AI-generated replicas of existing human models for all future marketing materials. While the company is allowing these models to retain the rights to their digital-image likeness, many in the modelling industry are raising alarms that this will threaten traditional job opportunities. Pretty powerful way for H&M to announce the age of AI is here, you should get on board or get left behind.
There are a lot of brilliant applications of AI to the fashion industry. The use of digital models could expand the ability for brands to showcase a wider range of ethnicities and body types - huge steps for inclusivity in fashion imagery. Gen AI also has the potential to expand fashion design to a new population of designers that don’t have the traditional technical background or fashion education (what would we know about that!). But as the ability - and accessibility - to create content explodes, the consumer desire for authenticity and relying on ‘what’s real’ will be sought after like never before. Brands are going to need to stick to consistent messaging, trustworthy storytelling, and rely on actions that align with their values in order to maintain space in a market that will be inundated with deep fakes.
What Will AI Mean for Sustainability in Fashion?
What will the explosion of AI mean for designing clothes, developing lines, and marketing to customers in a sustainable way? On one hand, AI has powerful applications to create better traceability and sustainability in the way we source materials. It could help us actually understand where materials come from. Smart algorithms can also more accurately track and predict supply chain carbon emissions, even make recommendations to companies on alternative shipping methods or routes to minimize impact.
On the other side, AI has the dangerous potential to make fast fashion even faster. Now, the Zara’s of the world have been using predictive analytics on social media to scout the next micro trend for years. By the time you see the third Tiktok that olive green is in, martini inspired handbags already line the shelves of their stores. But it wasn’t the inception of a collection idea, rather the execution, that slowed them down. As content becomes increasingly easy to generate, AI has the potential to accelerate an already shortening trend cycle. Marketing campaigns that were traditionally composed of week-long photo shoots, followed by days of editing, can now be generated in a matter of minutes. But don't tell that to our newest employee (he's just getting the hang of it). Fashion giants can put out even more lines in a year; in other words, more clothes produced, more clothes thrown away.
For consumers, generative imaging has the capacity to tamper with the already delicate decision-making process of the individual shopper. Soon every ad for a beachfront property, mountaintop screensaver on your computer, or Marriott vacation commercial will probably be generated by AI instead of commissioned by photographers and videographers. AI could drastically alter our interpretation of reality and create a false sense of security in our natural environment. Streaming ads and social feeds will be flooded by retouched landscapes without the imperfections left behind by modern consumption. The less informed we become on our current environmental consequences, the less inclined we feel to act in our day to day like when making shopping decisions.
AI at WSTLKE
Now don’t get me wrong, we at WSTLKE love the applications of AI - (“Hey ChatGPT, how do you start a small online business?”), but we believe in capturing the authenticity, transparency, and BEAUTY in the world from behind a camera lens. The scenic views and landscapes that make up our clothing designs have not and will not be created using generative AI. Will we explore applications of the technology in other ways? Absolutely. We look forward to using the up sides of AI in any way we can.
