Levi Strauss & Co. taps Lalaland.ai retail technology for ‘more diverse and inclusive customer experience’
Levi Strauss & Co. is gearing up to test customisable AI generated models through a partnership with Lalaland.ai.
It says that the tech would allow for products to be seen on a wider range of body types, skin tones, ages and sizes.
“While AI will likely never fully replace human models for us, we are excited for the potential capabilities this may afford us for the consumer experience,” says Dr. Amy Gershkoff Bolles, Global Head of Digital and Emerging Technology Strategy at Levi Strauss & Co.
“We see fashion and technology as both an art and a science, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Lalaland.ai, a company with such high quality technology that can help us continue on our journey for a more diverse and inclusive customer experience.”
When people currently shop on the Levi’s website or mobile app, there is generally one model for each product.
“We know our customers want to shop with models who look like them, and we believe our models should reflect our consumers, which is why we’re continuing to diversify our human models in terms of size and body type, age and skin colour,” Levi’s says in an online post.
“This AI technology can potentially assist us by supplementing models and unlocking a future where we can enable customers to see our products on more models that look like themselves, creating a more personal and inclusive shopping experience.”
Backlash
The move has received a mixed response on social media.
Whilst some praised what they viewed as forward thinking, others slammed Levi’s for underhand tactics
“I thought this was an April Fool’s joke. In order to “increase diversity” Levi’s is going to pay a white AI company to create fake AI models that are people of colour instead of actually paying real people of colour,” said one.
Another commented: “Literally companies will do anything to avoid paying PoC. And…Really ought to make the use of AI for anything pertaining to advertising (or final products if anything to be sold too) totally illegal. Period.”
What do you think? The way of the future or shady and cheap? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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