Artificial intelligence has not only been democratized and developed rapidly in 2023, but has also created a lot of conversation. FashionUnited invites you to take a look at the most important events linked to this theme and which lay the foundation for the surprises of 2024.
First steps towards regulating artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence was already highlighted as the word of the year at the end of 2022. Subsequently, the Spanish Government, among others, announced the establishment of a Spanish Artificial Intelligence Regulatory Authority to address the need to establish a regulatory and supervisory framework that addresses the challenges and risks associated with the increasing use of artificial intelligence.
But it was only a year later that participants at the International Summit on Artificial Intelligence Security, attended by 28 nations, including major global powers such as the United States, China and the European Union, came together to address the potentially “catastrophic” Address risks associated with the rapid development of this technology.
Marketing is reinventing itself
In March, Stradivarius, the young fashion chain of the Spanish fashion group Inditex, surprised people with a campaign for spring/summer 2023 “reinterpreted” by artificial intelligence with models whose faces were generated with artificial intelligence and do not exist in real life.
AI has fundamentally changed the way fashion is advertised this year, and research on the topic promises untold benefits. This is also made clear by phenomena like ‘The Clueless’, an AI modeling agency that shook up social media with two influencers within a few months. These look real, but were created with artificial intelligence.
AI generated fashion
Shortly after, Dutch fashion company G-Star, which specializes in denim designs, put a physical design into action based on an AI-generated model. The Spanish company Desigual also launched its first “on demand” collection. An offer created using artificial intelligence tools.
Image: Desigual.
In addition, Awesome Lab, the startup accelerator program supported by the company, announced another round, but this time with a focus on startups whose operations rely exclusively and specifically on generative artificial intelligence models.
Seen on the catwalks
April saw the first edition of IA Fashion Week, an initiative of the creative studio Maison Meta, launched by the consulting firm Trendlad, and dedicated to exploring the possibilities of using AI. A second edition of this fashion week took place in November.
But the impact of fashion created by generative artificial intelligence wasn’t limited to digital catwalks, as Spanish company Accidental Cutting brought AI to London Fashion Week in September.
The potential of AI for the future of retail
The ‘State of Fashion 2024’ report published by McKinsey and The Business of Fashion (BoF) confirms that industry leaders see significant expansion potential in artificial intelligence (AI).
Given a challenging macroeconomic environment, high expectations and increased competition, investing in artificial intelligence in 2023 is critical to increase productivity, improve the shopping experience and drive growth, according to May’s Shoptalk Europe conference dedicated to the the future of retail.
The race to be at the forefront of the new revolution
In this context, the players in the sector are trying to advance the technological revolution and offer their customers innovative solutions, but how?
The Spanish fashion group Mango announced the launch and implementation of “Lisa”, its own generative conversational intelligence platform, completing the already extensive ecosystem of AI solutions that the Spanish company implements as the basis of its operating and management model and from which it has already launched more than 20 parts developed using its own generative AI tools.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba introduced “Tongyi Qianwen,” an AI language model designed to improve capabilities within its business ecosystem by enabling business partners to access and create customized models. Meanwhile, online giant Amazon launched “Amazon Bedrock,” a service aimed at creating generative AI-based applications and democratizing access to these technologies.
Amazon also introduced AWS Inferentia2 and Trainium AWS Chip Instances to optimize resources and accelerate model training, as well as free access to Amazon CodeWhisperer, an AI-powered code assistant.
European multinational online shopping company Zalando also developed a new generative AI-powered fashion assistant that was deployed in its apps and e-commerce platforms this spring.