AI might push fashion models out of the picture

Artificial intelligence is fast becoming ubiquitous. It’s on WhatsApp, where you can ask Meta’s AI about anything, integrating a search engine into the messaging app. In the art world, artists are integrating AI tools into their work, and it’s not just photographers rendering images of imagined realities. 

In the recent hip-hop beef between artists Drake and Kendrick Lamar, the former almost found himself in legal trouble having released Taylor Made Freestyle, a diss track with an AI-generated version of late legendary rapper Tupac Shakur’s voice. The rapper had to pull the song from all public platforms after being served with a cease-and-desist letter by an attorney for Shakur’s estate

Globally, debate rages on about government regulation — or lack thereof — of this fast-growing technology. Even though it remains nascent, industries are finding ways to enhance operations through AI, and fashion is no exception. 

German online retailer Zalando announced in early 2023 that they would be launching a virtual fashion assistant, powered by ChatGPT. Testing began on the tool, which allows a shopper on either Zalando’s website or app to ask questions and get answers as well as customised product recommendations. Similarly, companies like Shopify and Kering also introduced AI chatbots.

We’ve seen brands including Valentino integrating AI. Their Essential 2023 campaign was created by running text-to-image prompt to render visuals. Moncler teamed up with Maison Meta for their first AI-powered campaign, and G-Star released a couture piece designed using generative AI platform Midjourney. 

Brands are using AI to write product descriptions, and others are leveraging AI for supply chain efficiencies. There are obvious implications for this, the primary concern being potential effects on job security.

Digital twin

Fashion is always changing, and the fashion model has always evolved alongside the industry, moving from being live action mannequins in the 1800s to “supers” — Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell et al — in the 90s, and the current crop — social media influencers. It’s no reach to suggest that the influencer era has probably seen its best days. It looks like the industry may be moving towards the use of “digital twins”, potentially replacing in-real-life, flesh and bone models with a pixel-composed variety.

Per management consultants McKinsey & Company’s definition, a “digital twin” is “a digital representation of a physical object, person, or process, contextualised in a digital version of its environment. Digital twins can help an organisation simulate real situations and their outcomes, ultimately allowing it to make better decisions.”

For example, by uploading an image to a platform like Dress X, users can generate images of themselves wearing different looks, and people are using their digital twins to generate an extra income as models. In a recent Associated Press report, for example, we meet London-based model Alexsandrah whose digital twin stands in for her in real-life shoots.

“Alexsandrah, who goes by her first name professionally, in turn receives credit and compensation whenever the AI version of herself gets used — just like a human model,” AP’s Claire Savage reports. No details are provided as to how said compensation is affected.

Similarly, the Washington Post reports that “platforms like AI Fashion give models an opportunity to appear in paid campaigns just by providing old images of themselves and letting AI do the rest”. Designers and manufacturers are also using these digital twins to create and test prototypes of their fashion products without any need for physical samples or in-real-life models.

Distort representation

Proponents for the accelerating use of AI in fashion say it’s a good thing for diversity as it will allow consumers to make tailored purchasing decisions (by trying on items on their own digital twin) which would, in turn, reduce waste that results from product returns. 

However, concerns remain that models, photographers, stylists and makeup artists may be pushed out of employment opportunities. For creators of colour, there’s the danger that AI can further distort racial representation in an industry that is stubbornly resistant to transformation. 

With Open AI, the company responsible for Chat GPT, announcing a new update that promises to make an Iron Man-style Jarvis virtual assistant a mainstream reality, the tech continues to develop at an accelerated rate while we debate its implications in society.

In fashion specifically, despite AI’s status as an emerging technology, more than half of the industry’s executives are already using generative AI, and 73% say it is a priority for their businesses in 2024, according to a McKinsey analysis. 

What happens next, only time will tell. As things stand, with no regulation, it looks like traditional, flesh and bone fashion models — among other professionals — may be getting pushed out of the picture.