Guess recently released a two-page campaign in the latest edition of Vogue featuring a beautiful blonde model. She’s seen both leaning against a blue wall and sitting on a table showing off some of Guess’ newest clothes. Great, right? Yes, until you read the fine print.
She’s AI. Completely not a real model. There’s already growing concerns over AI taking over jobs, which this does, but we also must ask ourselves: what does this mean for beauty standards?
This doesn’t just stop with Guess. Brands are rapidly embracing AI-generated models as a new alternative. Just earlier this year, H&M announced a plan to make digital clones of its models. Brands are exploring this as it allows them to have complete control over the “model”’s appearance. They can dictate his or her proportions, face symmetry and even how the clothes fit. Using AI also removes the traditional barriers of an organic shoot, such as location or scouting.
But, the consequences cannot be ignored. With an introduction of generated faces, natural beauty falls away. When you can determine exactly what you want someone to look like, it’s going to be detrimental to how real people view themselves – and people online are livid.
Some are upset by the use of AI taking away opportunities for people. Social media users noted that it is a model’s dream to be featured in an edition of Vogue, all for that to be ruined by generated images. The most jarring commentary, though, comes from a review by Isabel Brown.
“There already was major societal backlash to magazines trying to make women look completely unattainable,” Brown said, adding that now, “They can just generate a completely impossible looking human being through AI.”
This is a problem. As Brown pointed out, magazines were already reinforcing a beauty standard that is out of reach for most people. Now with AI it’s not just unattainable, it’s not real. A common critique of models is that “no one looks like that” but now actually no one looks like that. This will only fuel unhealthy self images for people.
For an industry that was just starting to dip its toes into inclusivity, this is wildly disappointing. There is nothing more exclusionary than using fake models. Do better.
