AI-designed horse bag is tearing this tiny but passionate community apart

It all started with a nylon handbag in the shape of a horse.

Baggu, the hugely popular reusable shopping bag brand, announced earlier this month that it will release a collection created in collaboration with Novel York brand Collina Strada. Special designer editions have been successful for Baggu in the past: this was a previous collaboration sold out in minutes items going online. This modern collection – with its colorful, spectacular prints AND pony-shaped bags, little legs and all – they seemed intended to generate the same viral buzz. Brands are teasing designs. Influencers have published unboxing videos. Fans were ready to shop.

However, on the day the bags and accessories were released, fans received more details about the designs: Some of the prints were created using Midjourney’s AI image generator. A miniature disclaimer has been added to the product pages:

Blue Thorns is a print created using artificial intelligence from Collina Strada’s SS24 “Soft is Hard” collection. The team used Midjourney as a tool to remix Collina’s elderly art and improve it. After they used Midjourney to combine two prints, their graphics team turned the concept into a repeat, inserting logos and adding modern elements and layers to complete the print.

Some fans, to put it mildly, were not joyful. Instagram comments called the utilize of artificial intelligence “poor,” “disappointing” and “inexcusable.” Some customers say that when they placed their order, they did not realize that artificial intelligence was involved in the design process. On TikTok, some customers vowed never to shop at Baggu again.

The most common complaints concerned a “lack of transparency” in the utilize of artificial intelligence. It appears that buyers wanted more information or more explicit disclaimers. Others opposed collaboration on moral grounds, arguing that AI tools trained on other artists’ work without consent were theft. Finally, the environmental impact of generative AI is also a common concern, perhaps due to Baggu touts its eco-friendly brand ethos. Baggu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There is also a bit of a gray area in the reaction to the collection: Collina Strada has previously used generative artificial intelligence as a design tool. The designer behind the brand, Hillary Taymour, has previously discussed her process using tools like Midjourney, describing to The Fashion Business the iterative process of continually prompting AI systems with your own work to see what the tool spits out. Perhaps this collaboration suffered due to a lack of communication with customers before implementation – after all, the right framework is of great importance in marketing.

In addition to a brief explanation, the Baggu website offers some details about the AI ​​fingerprint generation process. In an email to Shoulder, Collina Strada spokeswoman Lindsey Solomon noted that only two of the prints used artificial intelligence – others, such as “Sistine Tomato” print. takes place through “photography[ing] every element of printing and composition[ing] them together, placing each rhinestone and tomato by hand. The AI ​​prints, in turn, rely on results generated by Midjourney images from Collina Strada’s previous works, essentially remixing the brand’s own designs. If your input is your own creation, is it still theft? And how much freedom should artists have to experiment with these tools before it is deemed a moral failure?

We’re in a weird AI transition phase. Tools like ChatGPT have been around for almost two years, and our online and offline spaces are flooded with synthetic content. Sometimes it’s witty; other times potential harm and abuse it is obvious. So I was surprised to see it spread so quickly AI image “All Eyes on Rafah”. This is probably the most viral article in the AI ​​media – do we agree with AI or not? Who can benefit from it and for what purpose?

This case of AI-designed reusable bags isn’t the most pressing example of the tension between future tech companies and what everyone else expects from our world. But it points to a debate we’ll only see more of, and raises questions about who owns what, who gets credit, and what’s fair. The answer at this point seems to be: it depends.