The Spill Babes

As every fashion lover this month, I received my Vogue magazine in the mail. But instead of pure editorial bliss, I was greeted with an AI-generated Guess ad.

AI. In the Supreme Court of fashion… Can I get another martini please?

I can’t say it’s unbelievable since we do live in the 21st century. Technology is constantly advancing whether we like it or not. As much pushback we give AI, it’s slowly becoming everywhere. Search engines answer your questions before you can even finish typing. Companies are swapping humans for computers without a care in the world. AI is here to work, unlike many humans. And honestly? People only love it because it makes life easier.

Humans are slowly becoming more lazy as time goes on simply because they aren’t challenging their brains. Others are relying on it to do the work for them so they can constantly stay ahead of others. Although it can be a great tool, it’s leading us down a slippery slope that the human mind has never experienced before. For centuries, we have had to put in the time and energy to get shit done. On top of that, we consistently had to expose ourselves to different modes of research to find answers. Now AI is doing it for us efficiently within seconds. Fashion is not supposed to be efficient. It’s supposed to be creative, emotional, and human. It’s supposed to make you feel something. That’s exactly what this ad didn’t do.

The first thing I noticed about the Guess ad was how uncanny it looked. It was too perfect, too clear, too polished. I felt like I was looking at a photo from a video game. The longer I stared at it, the more uncomfortable I felt. There was no human emotion on the paper. No pulse, no heartbeat. No connection we could all mutually feel. It disturbed me.

When we look at art, it communicates ideas and emotions without us realizing it. It expresses the artist’s individuality and aesthetic. Art is the way we capture the beauty in life. Living, breathing creatures are the only true things on Earth that can take this feeling and make something out of it. Now when you tell a man-made program to try and recreate this feeling, it can’t. A computer doesn’t comprehend how to create the feeling of human connection in the pieces it comes up with. It tries though. It tries really hard to. All it’s left with is an empty shell of what could have been beautiful.

The masterminds behind this mess knew exactly what they were doing. They saw the chaos of a changing world and decided to dive headfirst into it. When you’re one of the most well known names in the industry, you don’t just follow the trends; you start the damn stampede. These creators weren’t just trying to “adapt.” They were lighting the match to see what would burn so they could stay 10 steps ahead of others. So yes, I get what these ladies were trying to do. The creators wanted to see how the public would react to this type of content. It was pretty much one big experiment that landed up in our magazines. That’s what infuriates me the most.

If you want to experiment with AI, sure go ahead! I don’t give a damn what you do. Just don’t put it in my magazine that is founded around the idea of showcasing art.

The whole point of Vogue is to showcase the beauty that is fashion. Whether it’s the stylists, editors, designers, models, etc. The magazine is to spread their art to millions of others. So when you try to sneak in an AI generated ad amongst hundreds of man-made ones, yeah, people are going to be pissed. You cannot convince me that an AI woman is prettier or more deserving of a place in the magazine than a human. Women who are already struggling to stay afloat while pursuing their dreams would kill for a gig with a brand like Guess. Shit even just for a place in Vogue. Not only are you taking away someone’s career by using AI but, you’re also trying to shove a new standard down viewers’ throats. It’s bad enough that girls of all ages are constantly trying to fit into society’s standards. So what? Now we have to fit into what AI deems is beautiful? That’s completely unattainable. This cold, lifeless creation does not make anyone want to buy whatever Guess products the ad is trying to promote.

After watching their interviews and reading articles where they were questioned further, I get why they did it, but that still doesn’t mean it should be in an issue of any print media. Saying that it’s meant to “coexist” with actual models and photographers without stealing any jobs is absurd to me. Whatever project that is taken on by AI is something that those artists could’ve worked on. If it isn’t the photographers or models, it’s going to be people on the marketing teams or PR teams. Someone’s job will be lost if the use of AI in the media picks up like it has started to. People are already replacing actual employees with AI ones, so saying you aren’t trying to steal any jobs is complete bullshit. Everyone knows it.

As time goes on and we’re slowly exposed to different modes of AI usage, I feel like the amount of pushback will only continue to grow. Between people losing their jobs and art losing feeling, people will start losing their shit. At the end of the day, companies will do what they need to do to keep their production costs low and consumers happy. It’s all about money to them. As much as we want to believe that these companies only care about their mission, we all know that would be thrown out the door the minute a good enough offer comes around. It’s a dog-eat-dog world we live in. The majority of the human race is money hungry. These corporations will keep a “we’re for our consumers” persona while in reality they’re trying to figure out ways to make a quick buck without spending anything.

Either way, AI needs to stay the fuck out of the media, specifically print media. I didn’t spend my entire life working hard to get to this moment just for it to all go to shit because of some computer. Get AI out of my face. Get artists and hard workers back on the scene. I want content that makes me feel something, even if that feeling leads me into spending my next paycheck on clothing. That Guess ad made me want to save my money. Not a good sign Guess. But thanks for taking one for the team so other brands reconsider releasing their own campaigns filled with AI models!!

Keep Spilling Babes, xx.