Episode 216: Could AI Save Fashion?

Clotheshorse with Amanda Lee McCarty

AI is being pitched as a solution for many of the world's greatest problems, including the environmental and ethical crisis that is fast fashion. Is AI a real solution for a more sustainable fashion industry? Or is it just hype?

This week's episode is a longer version of Amanda's recent talk about AI and fashion for the 2024 Fashion Changers conference in Berlin.
Amanda breaks down the following on her journey to figure out if AI really can save fashion:

• What are the biggest issues that fashion faces right now?
• How could these problems be solved? And how does AI play a part in that?
• What causes overproduction?
• Why is AI so thirsty for electricity...AND water?
• How *could* AI support solutions for a more sustainable fashion industry?
• How is it *actually* be using by brands right now?
• And what is fashion without the creativity of humans?

Get started on the the history of fast fashion with episode 175.

Additional reading:
"Old Navy's plus size experiment failed. It didn't have to," Elizabeth Segran, Fast Company.
"Cult-favorite fashion brand Selkie used AI to design its new clothes, and fans are disappointed," Amanda Krause, Business Insider.
"An AI-designed horse purse is tearing apart this small but passionate community," Mia Sato, The Verge.
"Pixel Perfect: The Rise Of AI Fashion Models," Bernard Marr, Forbes.
"The Rise of AI Fashion Models," Sam Gruet, Marketplace.
"Artificial intelligence technology behind ChatGPT was built in Iowa — with a lot of water," Matt O'Brien + Hannah Fingerhut, Associated Press.
"Why Microsoft made a deal to help restart Three Mile Island," Casey Crownhart, MIT Technology Review.

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