For over a century, Vogue has dominated the fashion industry, predominantly through its influential print magazines that have survived even in the drastic transition into a digital world. Vogue has molded itself to be the epitome of success in the fashion industry and the countless dreams of many to model and be featured in any of their monthly editions.
So when I, along with every other subscriber to Vogue magazine, saw their August Edition, I was stunned.
An advertisement from Guess, which took up two pages, featured two artificially generated models.
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has undeniably opened the door for beneficial and helpful discoveries. AI has been pushed beyond previous limits to become the next best thing in the world of technological advancement, bolstered by businesses with AI programs that claim it was created for the betterment of our future.
Though, there always remained a general fear in me of what would happen to art. From the start,creative minds feared what opportunities AI would take from them, especially when we began to witness different companies begin to incorporate AI.
All these fears surrounding AI felt like they were pushed aside considering its utility and the numerous companies that now utilize the technology. I felt like I too just began to accept it. That was until it showed up on everyone's front door.
The Guess advertisement itself notified readers in small letters at the sides of each image that the models were artificially generated, but the message was loud and clear: AI has entered the world of modeling, fashion and art.
Some other Vogue magazines at least used the artificially generated models to create bold, colorful and creative scenes, such as what was used on the March 2023 cover of Vogue Singapore depicting Southeast Asian avatars.
All of this abstract boldness, which made those editions at least an interesting scene, was stripped from what was included in the August edition. The models included were made to appear perfect and flawless. This was undeniably the most frustrating part of it all to me.
In the past decade it almost started to seem that the fashion industry finally was inching itself to inclusivity and embracing the beauty in diversity and differences. This all feels discarded if companies, and more importantly Vogue, can now generate their version of beauty that is unattainable and, quite literally, artificial.
Not only has Vogue now endorsed the use of AI, which is widely recognized to have adverse effects on the environment, but they are also paving the way for brands to eradicate art and creativity in the fashion industry.
AI is not the next best thing in fashion and art; it's an excuse for companies we adore to once again let us down.
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