No, This Isn't the World's First Digital Supermodel, but it Won't be the Last
AI-Generated Digital Twins of Models are Raising Concerns about Creativity, Authenticity, and Ownership
Models are typically silent stakeholders in the fashion industry. They’re mostly seen and not heard. But lately, there’s a lot of chatter about AI-generated models. More specifically, this announcement from Levis. In case you missed it, the denim company shared they’re collaborating with Lalaland.ai to generate photorealistic images of models with varying skin tones and body shapes.
The backlash was swift. Many called out the company for faining diversity while actually cutting out opportunities for models of color. Levis responded, stating their move toward AI-generated models wasn’t about diversity, but about efficiency.
Then last week this story on model Eva Herzigova “cloning” herself in the form of a MetaHuman.
Herzigová was scanned in a 70 camera rig and participated in a motion capture shoot to help create the realistic digital avatar — The Verge
In case you’re not familiar, MetaHuman is a software by Unreal Engine that provides a complete framework for creating (and working with) highly realistic human characters in any way imaginable. If the idea of creating digital twins for the plot sounds incredibly West Worldian, that’s because it is.