The way you shop online is about to change forever: 'It would be a lie to say there's zero fear'

The way you shop online is about to change for good.

That's the sentiment we've heard from leading innovators in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) fashion space.

You don't have to look far to find existing examples of AI within the Australian fashion landscape; in fact, it's already being utilised by brands like JAG and Guess.

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JAG has openly discussed its use of AI to create digital imagery to replace on-location shoots.

Meanwhile, Guess recently published an ad featuring an AI model in Vogue magazine, a move that sparked major backlash among fashion enthusiasts and models globally.

'In a sense, you're lying to the consumer'

Founder of Artificial Intelligence verification platform Verity AI, Lauren Kennedy, said the move to AI models selling products to consumers is "sooner than we realise."

"Brands are already experimenting with it, you will see it become more mainstream," Kennedy said.

If brands do make the switch to AI models, Kennedy says the handy model measurements in the product description won't disappear forever; instead, they will be taken from the measurements used to generate the 3D-AI models.

Model measurements help the buyer figure out how the garment will fit them by comparing the model's size and measurements to themselves.

"It won't vanish, AI models will have to have measurements to them," Kennedy said.

"When you're building a 3D format of a human, they'll have to build it in a certain way, so they ensure that products do fit.

"Let's say the typical model today is a size 10, and they've got their bust, waist and hips measurements ... you would have a typical size 10 model come in, fit them on the sample, and then scale up and down the sizes based on that person's body.

"Now, there is a risk in that the fit is a little different [in every store] and that's because of the shape of the model they use.

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"If anything, AI will bring consistency to those brands. That's where I think those brands have to do a really good job, ensuring that whatever AI model they leverage or build has accurate depictions of sizes and measurements.

"You still need to have that [model measurements description] to build the trust of the customer to convert [the sale]."

She says if brands get the measurements wrong, it would be "detrimental" to their profits and customer trust.

"It has to be accurate. If they haven't solved the problem of getting the fit accurate, then they're just going to increase their returns and customer complaints," she adds.

International model Leah Pan says she doesn't think AI models will take over the industry completely.

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"If I were to say there's zero fear, that would be a lie, but of course, there is the embedded fear of the competition, but I just feel that's part of [the industry]," Pan says.

When it comes to editorial use of AI models, Pan thinks it's innovative, but she says using it to sell clothes could be problematic.

"I think that the implementation of an AI model means they're pushing boundaries, and are doing something that hasn't been done before," she tells 9honey.

"Photography shows the way the clothes fit ... if you look at an AI model, then you see the clothes AI generated on it, it's not fit to life.

"It's not a true representation of what it actually looks like, in that sense, you might be lying to the consumer."

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The way we shop will change forever

Verity AI uses AI to help consumers shop on resale sites.

The AI is used by luxury second-hand retailer sites to analyse images of the items being listed by resellers.

The AI then assesses the image and marks the item as genuine or not genuine.

Once an item is authenticated, it provides a tick of approval on the site, which is visible to customers looking to buy the item.

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The invention came after Kennedy and her co-founder Brooke Marks were looking to buy second-hand designer items online, but they had no way of knowing if it they were real.

"We came together to co-found the business, and we are launching Verity AI to help automate the process of authentication and reduce fraud in the second-hand market."

The AI takes the authentication process from 30 minutes (for a person to do it) down to just 30 seconds.

Kennedy said the AI is protecting consumers from being scammed and also helping businesses convert sales – it's a win-win.

She says AI will take the online shopping industry further than ever before.

The AI founder estimates that soon, every person will have their own personalised feed, curated by AI algorithms, when they open any online retailer.

"AI is currently being tested with integrated user interfaces; if you and I were to both go on any website, we'd be looking at the same interface," she said.

"In the future, you and I would see different integrations of the same platform... it'll be hyper-tailored [to you]."

That means a completely unique and personalised feed on every retail site, showing you items it knows you will love based on things like past purchase history, advertising data and more.

Brands like Amazon, SHEIN and the Stich Fix are already using algorithms to push personalised products to their consumers.

Super-fast fashion brand SHEIN has an algorithm that predicts upcoming fashion trends, orders a small sample size of the items and sets them live on the website immediately to see how they sell.

If a product performs well, the AI will either trigger a scale-up the production or retire the item.

Artificial intelligence has also lent itself to a whole new type of tailoring business.

Australian Fashion technology group THDR launched its completely AI-powered app and retailer, Neuono.

The app uses body-mapping technology to create made-to-measure garments without ever needing to attend an in-person fitting.

The Neuono app scans your body to generate precise measurements, before it designs personalised items in any style, fabric, and fit, based on the user's preferences.

Co-Founder and Technology Lead of THDR Group Sean Fagan says the company is the next natural step in the intersection between Artificial Intelligence and Fashion.

"We've built Neuono to solve two of fashion's biggest challenges – poor fit and overproduction," Fagan said.

"By designing everything to order and to fit, we reduce waste and completely reshape the customer experience.

"Through this technology, the fashion possibilities become limitless. For a single jacket, Neuono can pull from over 70 trillion combinations of fabrics, linings, threads, and buttons.

"That level of personalisation just hasn't existed in ready-to-wear fashion."

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