For tastemakers like lifestyle influencer Rae Hersey: Life is all a “bot” fashion.
So while some are pushing ChatGPT to write their college term papers, the NYC native challenged the popular AI tool to dress her for the day.
“I asked it to step-by-step style into a young trendy outfit that a designer in his 20s would wear for a spring day on the town,” Hersey, a 27-year-old West Village resident, told The Na.
“I felt it would be helpful to give ChatGPT some details about me – my age, where I live, what my personal style is – to express what I was looking for in the outfit.”
On her own, the brunette, who describes her everyday swag as a mix of “feminine and edgy,” would usually don a ruffled dress, chunky sweater and a pair of Mary Jane platform heels.
But ChatGPT had other plans in mind – er, the microdata.
“I was shocked by some of the combinations it recommended,” said Hersey, who pulled items straight from her wardrobe for the fashion-meets-tech experiment.
“It told me to put on a plaid or patterned blazer, which is very far from my personal style and not something I own, so I decided to make a neutral blazer instead,” she said. “Then it said I had to wear a thick sweater under a blazer, something I’d never thought of before — and even hesitated while putting it on.
“But I was pleasantly surprised by the results,” said Hersey, who was inspired to wear the look at an event later that month. “It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone.”
Thousands of tech-curious fashionistas are tapping ChatGPT to serve as their virtual stylist under the TikTok hashtag #AIFashion, which has more than 14.1 million views to date.
In a popular video, 26-year-old London streetwear enthusiast Aly Meghani enlisted the AI to conjure up a “loud and eccentric” ensemble for a night out at a bar.
Suggestions include a “bold” graphic tee or colorful ruffled blouse for a top, as well as a denim jacket or vibrant blazer for outerwear. The bot also recommended a “statement” piece of jewelry, noting that Meghani shouldn’t be “afraid to mix and match”.
Of the eclectic look he ended up with, Meghani said, “Shout out to ChatGPT – the [outfit] is a solid 6 or 7 out of 10.”
ChatGPT had 1.5 billion monthly users in both March and April, according to engagement analytics hub CompareWeb, as interest in the bot’s massive capabilities continues to soar. Industries such as healthcare, finance, and media and entertainment are already using AI to perform tasks once reserved exclusively for humans. Last month even saw the debut of NYC’s first-ever AI Fashion Week, which showcased virtual looks using generative AI art programs like Midjourney.
“The thought that ChatGPT is the [fashion industry] is scary,” fashion psychologist Dawnn Karen, an assistant professor of psychology at the Fashion Institute of Technology, told The Post. “But it would be very dangerous for us to completely outsource our personal styles to artificial intelligence.”
She noted that artificial intelligence is incapable of “assessing certain social and cultural cues” or “imagining or expressing emotions” — even joking that it is “the equivalent of psychopath.”
“It robs us of the ability to express ourselves autonomously through the clothes we wear.”
Indeed, some say that ChatGPT’s stylistic oeuvre is simple at best.
Erika Dwyer, a 24-year-old fashion content creator from the West Village, told The Post she was not impressed with the outfits ChatGPT advised her to wear on two separate occasions.
“I told it to dress for casual New York City brunch like a 24-year-old woman,” she said. “It suggested a floral print midi dress, a leather or denim jacket in case it got cold outside, and sandals.”
Days later, she asked ChatGPT to style her for a date night. It advised her to slip into a black form-fitting midi dress with a deep plunging neckline or slit and complement it with a bold clutch and a pair of nude heels to elongate her legs.
And while the bot’s tips matched the requests, Dwyer found the looks bland and uninspired.
“It gave me some default options,” Dwyer said.
“But at the end of the day, the ability to dress up and to really stand out and be unique will always come from a person’s heart.”
