The use of AI is not limited to students looking to skimp out on work; it is computer programming that was designed to replicate the function of the human mind and has the capacity to grow over time. It is also easily accessible and has become a prominent part of our society. Â
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of AI and the fashion industry would definitely be the topic of design. With the use of AI, your design options seem limitless. It’s a very simple process: enter your prompt and let the AI do the work. The common assumption is that these designs will lack life and meaning since, although AI can replicate the human mind, it does not have human emotion. I decided to test this theory by prompting ChatGPT with a few design options and seeing what it came up with. Â
My first prompt was: “Design a dress that will be the next trend amongst millennials.” ChatGPT came up with an off the shoulder, thigh cut, plaid yellow dress. It’s a very simple design but technically speaking I can’t say it didn’t follow the prompt. This design gives us (or companies) a general idea of where to start, assuming AI picked up on algorithmic trends among millennials and clothing. So, I prompted it again: “Can you make this gown more flamboyant?” It took the original design and only changed the sleeves. Originally there were off the shoulder puff sleeves, and now the dress has giant puff sleeves on the shoulder that end around the elbow area and take up the whole width of the photo the AI provided, but that’s not all. It also added smaller puff sleeves under the giant puffs. Â
Even though this design is not my personal taste (or what I thought it would do when prompted to make the design more flamboyant), it is not an incorrect addition. I decided to be even more specific in my next prompt: “Can you make this dress more eye catching with a design of some sort either on the sleeves or bottom of the skirt and a different material/texture added with the design?” And so, it added white flowers to a paper-like material along the bottom of the dress and bottom puff sleeves. Â
What I’m realizing from this test is that the AI needs a lot more information and you cannot leave anything open for interpretation if you’re expecting a specific result. I wanted to try one last prompt before concluding that AI-generated design is difficult and does not beat the human mind when it comes to design. For this last test, I ditched the original prompt all together. I decided to test how well AI can interpret human ideas, so I looked up a popular dress online. Â
It is a sage green long dress with a slit on the left side and a sheer layer over the base layers of the bottom of dress that have embroidered leaves stitched on it in a pattern that makes it look like the leaves are falling from the corset down to the base of the dress. It also has thin straps that have the same leaves stitched all along it to give it a fuller look. I believe this type of dress is considered A-line and was very popular on TikTok in 2021. With this, I prompted the AI: “Can you create a green dress that has a sheer outermost layer covered in vine decor and leafy straps to hold it up with a slit on the left side?” AI came up with the Shein equivalent of the original dress. It looks like the type of dress you receive after you have been scammed. The straps are not as full, it is a darker green, the flowy part of the dress is cheap looking, and the sheer part of the dress looks itchy. Â
My conclusion on using AI for design is that there is definitely a way it can be done efficiently. I think using AI for ideas and taking those general designs to the drawing pad can benefit designers suffering from art block but relying on it to design something entirely on its own will leave clothes looking a little more sad and lifeless. Â
AI can be used for more than just designing clothes, though! It can also create marketing and advertisements for companies! This is especially troubling because it raises the question of how is the consumer supposed to know the quality of the item being purchased if the item in the advertisement is not real? Â
There are two main ways AI advertisement can go, one of them being the use of AI models wearing the actual product, and the second being the use of both AI models AND AI products. A quick search of “AI fashion ad” into the Google search bar and plenty of websites will pop up offering their yearly subscriptions to use their AI models. Botika.io was the first one I checked out. The site works by uploading a picture of your product and then selecting from an assortment of models and backdrops, then you add it to your website and socials (according to Botika). Simple as that. Obviously, a big issue with this method is that it puts models and photographers out of work, but I think it also has its benefits. Now companies can get items onto the market much faster, cost effectively, and easier. No processing of images or photoshop, no waiting period to receive the images, and they don’t have to pay people they would have without the use of this site. Â
The second website I came across is even more advanced. The New Black AI has many features like “text to image” and “create AI fashion videos” or even “color changer for clothes.” It is a really fascinating and advanced website, in my opinion. I think if used the right way, this AI program could also be very beneficial to clothing designers. It can help put projects to a visual and complete look much faster without wasting materials and time. But, it has very similar downsides to the previous website mentioned. And of course, with AI fashion videos, the consumer won’t really know what they’re buying until it is already bought because of the increased risk of the item appearing/feeling/fitting differently compared to how it appears in the video. Â
AI isn’t all that bad, in my opinion, and there are benefits like 24/7 online shopping assistants. Since AI follows an algorithm that is supposed to mimic the human mind, an online shopping assistant should replicate speaking to a real person. This is a useful tool for people who struggle with human interaction, don’t have time to shop but still would like recommendations or a replicated simulation of shopping in a physical store, and for companies to open their horizons to a wider group of people that didn’t have access to them before.Â
To wrap things up, AI is not going to just go away. Although some aspects of AI can be a little intimidating, if used in an effective way, I think it is a very beneficial tool for many different groups of people. For example, researchers, (similar idea to how I conducted an experiment with fashion mentioned before), students, companies, consumers, and even artists.