The Tamesis
This article is part of The Future of Artificial Intelligence, a collection of articles that explores how artificial intelligence will impact the fashion and beauty industries in the coming years.
In 1950, computer scientist Alan Turing proposed “The Imitation Game,” questioning whether a machine should be considered “intelligent” if its user couldn’t tell they were communicating with a computer. Decades later, the idea became known as the Turing Test and remains one of the most enduring ways of thinking about artificial intelligence. But testing is always about imitation, not understanding. Today, most researchers believe that artificial intelligence can generate, predict, and persuade without real thought or understanding. Models are getting better at recognizing patterns and producing fluent responses, but they still struggle with reasoning: understanding unspoken context, cause and effect, and the deeper meaning behind what is said.
These limitations are indeed important for the fashion industry, which is in an extremely unique position when it comes to artificial intelligence. High fashion is an industry built on all the inferred meanings, emotions and unspoken contexts that shape human desire. Desire, status and commitment to a certain life form the basis of luxury. Taste, curation and excellence in craftsmanship are all concepts rooted in human storytelling and references accumulated over time.
According to our fashion business The artificial intelligence survey shows that consumers value reference materials accumulated through life experience more than any efficiency created by technology. “I’m very much about the history of fashion, or the feeling of being drawn to a specific item, whether it’s vintage or new, and figuring out how it combines with items I already own,” one interviewee said, describing what attracted them to brands. “People who I think are fashionable, either in real life or online. A sense of personal style is the most interesting and inspiring thing,” another said of their search for fashion ideas.
Only a quarter of consumers (24%) say AI-generated fashion images and videos are as valuable as those produced by humans. Most people seek fashion advice and inspiration from real people – magazines (57%), street style (47%), fashion blogs/Substacks/Pinterest (36%) and influencers (35%) – rather than AI chatbots, with only 3% saying they use AI chatbots as a source of style inspiration. Two-thirds (66%) said their shopping experience would be affected if AI robots (rather than human sales advisors) assisted them in-store.
It’s impossible to predict what will happen with artificial intelligence tomorrow, let alone ten years from now. But our consumer research—and months of conversations with tech experts, analysts, and creatives—makes predicting what consumers want just a little bit easier. Ten years from now, artificial intelligence will likely have advanced enough to generate fashion concepts, trend reports, and shopping recommendations that are indistinguishable from those created by humans. But will consumers stop caring whether there are humans behind fashion products? The answer is probably no. However, it is more likely that in 10 years:
- Artificial Intelligence will be everywhere in luxury fashion—but only behind the scenes
- In-store experience will become the pinnacle of luxury goods
- Consumers will not use mainstream AI agents to purchase luxury fashion. Luxury retailers and brands may design their own products to express taste
- In a world where “thinking” machines are ubiquitous, humans will become the new scarcity of luxury goods
