With the risk of stating the obvious, the possibility of AI taking over human jobs is becoming more evident. Artificial intelligence has now reached the fashion industry as well, with Levi's planning to "supplement" human models with AI-generated ones.
Levi's Take on the Future
The clothing company recently announced its partnership with Lalaland.ai, which is a digital fashion studio that creates customized AI-generated models. Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) plans to test the AI technology by late 2023.
In the company's narrative, they expressed that they would "supplement" human models to increase the number and diversity of their models for their products in a sustainable way. In this scenario, sustainability could mean that they won't have to pay human models anymore.
The global head of digital and emerging technology strategy at Levi Strauss & Co, Dr. Amy Gershkoff Bolles, said that AI will likely never fully replace human models for the company. She added that they were excited about the potential capabilities it could bring to the company.
LS&Co. believes that customers want to shop with models that look like and that the models should reflect them. AI-generated models can be the solution to a more diversified variety of models in terms of size, body type, age, and skin color.
As opposed to having just one model for each product, the company stated that AI technology can assist them in "supplementing models," which in turn would allow consumers to see the product on a model that looks more like themselves through AI.
The company did mention that they intend to hire more models to represent various customers that shop from them, and that the AI technology would simply "assist" them. This may be the clothing company's take on keeping the business at the "forefront of innovation."
The Ethical Aspect of Using AI Instead of Humans
Levi's expressed that they are continuing to explore technologies that improve customer experience, and that diversity, equity, and inclusion are top priorities for the company. They also clarified that they do not see AI-generated models as the sole solution.
However, some might argue that using artificial intelligence to generate the appearance of diversity may not be sending the right message. After all, as pointed out by Engadget, they are replacing and not paying the actual human beings that the "appearances" represent.
With the company's mission to "see more representation in the fashion industry," it does not bode well for them to set the people they claim to be "representing" aside, especially because it only benefits them since they would be able to save by not having to pay human models.
As for "AI will likely never fully replace human models for us," it may be a statement released by the company to stay on the safe side with the terms "likely" and "fully." saying that it's not likely means there is still a chance, and not fully replacing could very well mean replacing 90% or more.
