The decision by clothing firm Levi Strauss to use models generated by artificial intelligence to show off its products has been criticised by an HR consultancy specialising in race equity.
Later this year, Levi Strauss will present AI models in different body types, skin colours and ages, allowing customers to see how products might look on them.
The AI models will be “inspired” by real people, said the company generating the images, Amsterdam-based Lalaland.ai, but it was unclear if that meant the real people on whom the creations will be based would be paid or even informed of their involvement.
Levi’s global head of digital and emerging technology strategy Dr Amy Gershkoff Bolles said the firm did not see AI-generated models as a “sole solution” to increase diversity, equity and inclusion among its product models. However, Levi, she said, felt the new technology would enable customers to see more models that look like themselves, “creating a more personal and inclusive shopping experience”.
After facing criticism on social media, however, Levi stated that the use of AI-generated models was not a “means to advance diversity” or a “substitute for the real action that must be taken to deliver on our diversity, equity and inclusion goals”.
Levi’s said: “We are not scaling back our … commitment to working with diverse models.”
It added: “The Lalaland.ai partnership may deliver some business efficiencies that provide consumers with a better sense of what a given product looks like but should not have been conflated with the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion commitment or strategy.”
Managing director of anti-racism advisory firm HR rewired Shereen Daniels accused Levi Strauss of “faking their way towards increasing representation”.
She said: “Levi’s argue that it is a way to increase representation for customers who want to see models who look like them but what’s stopping them from hiring the real people?”
She added that in June 2020, as Black Lives Matter protests grew, Levi issued a statement that “Black people deserve better”. Daniels said: “If this is their version of doing better, do we want it? There is a difference between transactional and transformational change. Most organisations struggle to know the difference so end up focusing on the former, which leads to short-term low impact tokenistic initiatives and over indexing on visual representation thinking that will solve all of their problems with racism.”
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