A new study examines artificial intelligence in fashion

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the fashion industry has grown significantly in recent years. Artificial intelligence is used for tasks such as personalizing fashion recommendations for customers, optimizing supply chain management, automating processes and improving sustainability to reduce waste.

However, the creative processes in fashion design are still mostly human-driven and there is not much research on the use of artificial intelligence for fashion design. In addition, studies are usually conducted with data scientists who build AI platforms and deal with the technology aspect of the process. However, the other side of this equation, i.e. the designers themselves, are often not committed to research.

In order to investigate the practical applicability of artificial intelligence models in the implementation of creative designs and work with human designers, assistant professor prof. Yoon Kyung Lee from Pusan ​​National University in Korea in-depth study. Her study was published in Thinking skills and creativity.

“At a time when artificial intelligence is so deeply embedded in our lives, this study began instead by considering what humans can do better than artificial intelligence,” explains Professor Lee of her motivation for the study. “Could there be effective collaboration between humans and AI for creative design?”

Prof. Lee began generating new textile designs using deep convolutional generative adversarial networks (DC-GANs) and cycle-GANs. Outputs from these models were compared to similar designs created by design students.

The comparison revealed that although the designs created by both were similar, the biggest difference was the uniqueness and originality seen in human designs that were based on the person’s experience. However, applying AI to repetitive tasks can improve designers’ efficiency, freeing them up to focus on more difficult creative work.

Designs generated by AI can also be used as a learning tool for people without fashion expertise who want to explore their creativity. These people can create designs with the help of AI. Prof. So Lee proposes a human-artificial intelligence collaboration network that integrates GANs with human creativity to generate suggestions.

The professor also defined and studied the various complex system elements involved in human-AI collaborative design. She also went on to create a human artificial intelligence model in which a designer works with an artificial intelligence to create a new design idea. The model is built so that if the designer shares his creative process and ideas with others, the system can connect and evolve, improving his designs.

The fashion industry can use this to anticipate changes in the fashion industry and offer recommendations and co-creation services. Setting goals, variables, and limits is part of a designer’s job in a human-AI collaborative design environment. Therefore, their work should go beyond just the visual side and instead cover different fields.

“In the future, everyone will be able to become a creator or designer with the help of artificial intelligence models. Until now, only professional fashion designers could design and show clothes. But in the future, it will be possible for everyone to design the clothes they want and show their creativity,” concludes Prof .Lee.

Provided by Pusan ​​National University