Levi's faces criticism after revealing plans to use AI models to increase 'diversity'

• Levi's recently announced it plans to use AI-generated models, alongside human models, later this year.
• Many people online have criticised this announcement by the denim brand, but the details around how it plans to roll it out are unclear. 
• With the rapid rise of AI, it is inevitable fashion brands will have to leverage its capabilities to stay ahead of the curve. 
• For more, visit the Tech & Trends homepage. 

Iconic denim brand Levi's recently announced its plans to start using AI-generated models to increase the "number and diversity" of its models later this year.

The brand has partnered with Lalaland AI, a digital studio that specialises in customisable AI-generated models, to bring its vision to life. 

"While AI will likely never fully replace human models for us, we are excited for the potential capabilities this may afford us for the customer experience," said Amy Gershkoff Bolles, the global head of digital and emerging technology strategy at Levi's. 

With these AI-generated models, Levi's hopes to not only increase diversity but also to create a more inclusive, personal, and sustainable shopping experience.

Lalaland AI is known to create hyper-realistic models of all body types, skin tones, ages, and sizes - so one can expect Levi's will be tapping into this capability for its upcoming experiment.

Mixed reactions

However, its announcement was met with some criticism, with many people feeling this might negatively impact human models who are offering diversity in the industry. 

Even though the company said the AI models would not replace human models, many have called the brand out for not just simply hiring more diverse models.

One Twitter user wrote:

Another user wrote: "Imagine using AI to generate diverse models instead of hiring actual people."

These are just some examples of a series of Tweets that reflect a similar sentiment.

Additionally, lifestyle publication The Cut published a piece with the headline: "Levi's, You Can Just … Hire Diverse Models?" 

In a statement, Levi's said diversity, equity and inclusion was a top priority for the company and "it's important to note we do not see AI-generated models as a sole solution".

But with many questions unanswered by the brand's announcement, it is unclear exactly how the AI models will be used, and whether real models will be impacted by this experiment and to what extent.

AI in fashion

Either way, Levi's would not be the first fashion brand attempting to leverage the capabilities of AI.

During the height of the pandemic and intense lockdowns, online fashion retailer ASOS used AI technology to create virtual copies of their clothing and mapped them onto the images of real models.

In 2022, American retailer Walmart launched an online experience that allowed its users to try on clothes virtually using existing photographs of themselves.

These examples demonstrate the broad and versatile ways in which AI can be used in fashion. 

With PwC estimating AI could contribute up to US$15.7 trillion to the global economy annually by 2030, leveraging its ability in fashion will soon become a vital component of most - if not all - fashion brands' strategies over the coming years.