Every day, the Internet seems to be abuzz with news about the amazing adventures of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various industries, from art to fashion (with some complex misadventures in AI linked with legal matters thrown in).
Fashion-wise, for example, it was recently announced that Etro Creative Director Marco De Vincenzo collaborated with digital artist and prompt designer Silvia Badalotti on the images for the brand's S/S 2024 collection, "Nowhere".
The partnership resulted in a series of fantasy scenes, spanning from pastel-hued gardens (a sort of Karla Black palette) and scenes set in nature to celestial maps. The campaign, featuring a diverse array of models (albeit predominantly thin ones, thus lacking inclusivity), showcased the brand's Spring 2024 collection for both men and women. The models were also generated by AI, aiming to portray "a humanity that is both familiar and alien," according to a statement by Etro.
While the concept was intriguing, the execution didn't seem to be perfect as the designs with bold patterns and graphics, and the sunglasses developed in collaboration with Safilo, at times seemed crudely rather than seamlessly overimposed onto the models.
The effect was more successful with the inclusion of bags on AI-generated background. As a whole, the campaign looked visually rich, yet not entirely convincing, but definitely less awkward than previous ad campaigns made with AI (Pangaia's).
As Milan Fashion Week approaches, speculation arises about whether the upcoming Etro collection will feature prints or patterns designed by AI. We'll see, but in the meantime, AI-generated outfits will also grace the runway at London Fashion Week.
But can AI be used to do something more extraordinary than just a fashion collection? Because in other fields, extraordinary things are happening thanks to AI.
In October 2023, a breakthrough was achieved by a team of computer scientists from the University of Kentucky, led by Dr. Brent Seales, as they successfully employed technology to decipher an ancient scroll ravaged by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which engulfed the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Scrolls of this kind still tightly rolled and reduced to charcoal, are incredibly fragile and any attempt to unfurl them would result in their disintegration into dust (yet if the high temperatures hadn't carbonised the scrolls they would have decomposed…).
Believed to be part of the library of a luxurious villa, possibly owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law, the scroll was one of approximately 1,000 papyrus scrolls discovered in the 18th century. This is the only surviving library from ancient Roman times.
Using X-ray computed tomography (CT) scans technology, the team unwrapped the scroll and visualised flat images. Through a machine-learning algorithm, 21-year-old computer scientist Luke Farritor, deciphered the word πορϕυρας (porphyras), meaning "purple" from the ancient Greek text (maybe a reference to the purple dye derived from the glands of murex sea snails). This success spurred Dr. Seales, supported by backers from Silicon Valley, to launch the Vesuvius Challenge, a $1 million competition aimed at extracting further text from the CT scans of the scroll.
Recently Farritor, together with two other students - Youssef Nader, a PhD student in Berlin, and Julian Schillinger, a Swiss Robotics student - developed an AI model capable of recognizing patterns in the lettering, deciphered further letters and texts.
Scholars speculate that the writing style resembles that of the Greek philosopher Philodemus, an adherent of Epicurean philosophy who may have resided in Herculaneum. Translated passages discuss the sources of pleasure in life, touching upon music and food. In the text Philodemus appears to praise things in small quantities. "As too in the case of food, we do not right away believe things that are scarce to be absolutely more pleasant than those which are abundant," he states.
Despite progress, only 5% of the text has been deciphered, totaling 2,000 Greek characters from one of the four scrolls scanned.
The team aims to utilize this technology to decode 90% of all four scrolls scanned this year and eventually extend the process to all the other scrolls. Additionally, they foresee the potential application of this technology to decipher papyrus wrapped around Egyptian mummies, shedding light on various aspects of ancient Egyptian life. For their remarkable achievement, the students were awarded a prestigious prize of $700,000.
So, what could AI do for the fashion industry apart from generating stunning images and fantasy collections?
Some companies are already using AI to streamline retail operations, enhance customer experiences, address challenges such as product returns and come up with AI-integrated inventory systems that enable quick stock assessments, allowing consumers to easily check the availability of specific items both online and in-store.
AI technology could play a crucial role in identifying counterfeit products, even though at the moment, for what regards counterfeits, QR codes and 12-digit numeric codes creating unique digital identities for products are working well for some companies, as customers can scan the QR code with their smartphones and confirm online the authenticity of their purchase.
Yet the story of the Herculaneum papyrus scrolls offers us an insightful lesson: the students who successfully deciphered the ancient text did not come from subjects such as archaeology, history, or classical studies backgrounds, but rather from technology-focused disciplines.
This illustrates the potential for professionals from diverse fields to make significant contributions to the fashion industry as well through AI innovation, whether through groundbreaking discoveries, innovative ideas, or pioneering research. So, the convergence of technology and creativity may represent the real future of fashion and offer the industry real transformative advancements.
Until then, many of us may continue to dabble in designing with AI, generating countless colorful, imaginative and surreal images, and enjoying the process immensely, without necessarily producing any substantial nor significant progress in this field.
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