These clothes were designed by artificial intelligence

Getting an algorithm to create a cutting-edge fashion collection may seem like a big ask. But two design students have done just that by starting the world’s first AI-designed fashion brand.

Glitch is the work of two people who met on a course at Massachusetts Institute of Technology that encouraged students to develop deep learning software for creative initiatives, such as AI-generated art, jewellery and perfumes.

Pinar Yanardag and Emily Salvador's studies led to a program capable of designing a version of the “little black dress”.

Their company, Glitch, uses AI to create designs that they say push the boundaries of fashion: an asymmetric dress with one normal and one bell sleeve, for example.

Typical Glitch customers are women working in technology. Half of the proceeds of the little black dress design are donated to AnitaB.org, a social enterprise that supports women entering the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

The two entrepreneurs want to inspire women to get involved in machine learning, and are creating user-friendly tools to encourage AI-human collaborations.

Positive thinking

In the future, collaborations between algorithms and humans could become the norm. Yale and Oxford researchers looked at how AI will reshape every aspect of our lives, transforming transport, health, science, finance and the military.

The survey of machine-learning researchers predicts a 50% chance AI will outperform humans in every job by 2062, and of automating all jobs in 120 years. But the results highlight wide regional differences in expectations of the potential of AI.

Asian respondents expect high level machine intelligence (HLMI) to transform our world sooner than other regions predict. This describes a situation where unaided machines are able to complete tasks more effectively and cheaper than human employees, which includes activities such as designing clothes and other creative functions.

On average, Asian machine-learning researchers predict the arrival of HLMI within 30 years, compared with 74 years for North Americans.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2018 report, lists AI, machine learning and the spread of new technologies as key drivers of change in the global labour market.

As self-learning algorithms become more sophisticated and integrate further with our work and social lives, they could have greater capacity to undertake jobs requiring artistic interpretation and creativity.

New categories of jobs will emerge, too, the report predicts. The skill sets required in both old and new occupations will change in most industries, transforming how and where people work.