by For decision makers like lifestyle influencer Rae Hersey, life is a bot fashion.
So, while some were urging ChatGPT to write term papers, a New York resident challenged the popular AI tool to dress her up for the day.
“I asked him to step by step design me in a young fashionable outfit that a twenty-something creator would wear on a spring day in the city,” Hersey, a 27-year-old West Village resident, told The Post.
“I felt it would be helpful to give ChatGPT some information about me – my age, where I live, my personal style – to express what I was looking for in an outfit.”
The brunette herself, who describes her everyday style as a mix of “feminine and angular”, usually wears a ruffled dress, a chunky sweater and a pair of platform Mary Jane stilettos.
But ChatGPT had other plans – hmm, its microdata.
“I was shocked by some of the recommended combinations,” said Hersey, who pulled items directly from her wardrobe for an experiment that combined fashion and technology.
“I was told to wear a plaid or patterned blazer, which is very far from my personal style and is not something I own, so I opted for a neutral blazer,” she said. “Then they were told to wear a thick sweater under the jacket, which I had never considered before – and even questioned when I put it on.
“But I was pleasantly surprised by the results,” said Hersey, who was inspired to wear this outfit to a party later this month. “It definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone.”
Thousands of tech-savvy fashionistas use ChatGPT as their virtual stylist under the TikTok hashtag #AIFashion, which has amassed over 14.1 million views so far.
In one popular video, 26-year-old London street fashion enthusiast Aly Meghani recruited AI to create a “loud and eccentric” outfit for a bar night out.
Among her offerings were a T-shirt with a “bold” graphic or a colorful ruffled top, as well as a denim jacket or a vibrant blazer as outerwear options. The bot also recommended “clear” jewelry, noting that Meghani should not be “afraid to mix and match”.
Of the eclectic look he got, Meghani said: “Shout out to ChatGPT – the [outfit] it’s a solid 6 or 7 out of 10”.
According to engagement analytics hub SimilarWeb, ChatGPT had 1.5 billion monthly users in both March and April as interest in the bot’s massive capabilities continues to skyrocket. Already, industries such as healthcare, finance, and media and entertainment are using AI to perform tasks that were once reserved for humans only. Last month, the first week of AI Fashion Week in New York even debuted, featuring a virtual look using generative AI art programs like Midjourney.
“Think about acquiring ChatGPT [fashion industry] is terrifying,” 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 fully AI outsource our personal styles.”
She noted that the AI lacked the ability to “evaluate certain social and cultural cues” or “empathize or express emotion” – and even joked that it was “the equivalent of a psychopath.”
“It deprives us of the ability to express ourselves through the clothes we wear.”
Indeed, some argue that ChatGPT’s stylistic output is rudimentary at best.
Erika Dwyer, a 24-year-old fashion content creator from the West Village, told The Post that the outfits that ChatGPT advised her to wear on two separate occasions did not impress her much.
“I told her to dress me up for a casual brunch in New York as a 24-year-old,” she said. “He suggested a midi dress with a floral print, a leather or denim jacket in case it got cold outside, and sandals.”
A few days later, she asked ChatGPT to style her for a date. She advised her to wear a black fitted midi dress with a plunging neckline or slit, and to complement it with a bold clutch bag and a pair of nude heels to elongate her legs.
And while the bot’s directions fit the requests, Dwyer felt the look was bleak and uninspiring.
“It gave me some standard options,” said Dwyer.
“But ultimately, the ability to dress, stand out, and be unique will always come from a person’s heart.”
