Let’s talk about AI in Fashion
Fashion is essentially a conglomeration as to what’s happening around us. Artificial intelligence has been a great facet for many fields and has elevated many industries like no other. While there is great significance in innovations of our industry, we must reflect on the nuances of AI usage and AI in creative spaces.
In the past years, we have obviously seen AI assistance be incorporated for better personalization and convenience ranging from Siri, ChatGPT, Spotify, Tiktok, etc. We’ve also seen great progress is operations, manufacturing, marketing, and many other industries. But in the industry where we have become more aware of sustainable practices, is AI the best option to go? AI’s environmental impact is often less tangible compared to traditional manufacturing, which is visible in pollution and waste. This hidden footprint might undermine the public perception of a brand’s sustainability commitments.
It’s predicted by Forbes, that AI's water footprint could be 6.6 billion m³ by 2027. That is approximately close to 942.86 million pairs of jeans.
For better comparison, Denim products were a huge concern in terms of water waste with close to 7000 liters of water being used per pair. Many companies have implemented plans about the reduction of water waste, but with AI, it seems we may regress on the movement we just started.
The environmental impact that fashion has caused is quite immense from pollution, resource depletion, and climate change. And there have been movements within companies to reduce water waste and their footprint such as Levi’s Water<Less™ technology to reduce water use in denim production. But in that same motive, Levi’s is partnered with AI company, Lalaland.ai, increasing the amounts of water usage by association. It takes 6.6 million liters annually for data centers and approximately 1.4 liters of water per 100 words generated. This raises questions about whether these efforts cancel each other out or potentially lead to "greenwashing" if not transparently addressed. This dilemma highlights a broader tension in the sustainability movement: as industries innovate with technologies like AI, they risk unintentionally shifting their environmental burdens rather than solving them. True sustainability requires A holistic approach that considers all aspects of resource consumption and efforts to align technological advancements with environmental priorities.
The Solution
Similarly to the models of sustainability in fashion, we can apply these to the infrastructure and system of Artificial intelligence.
Closed-Loop Systems:
Factories with closed-loop water systems recycle and reuse water multiple times during production.
Greywater Usage:
Just as fashion brands use greywater for washing processes, data centers can utilize greywater or municipal recycled water for cooling systems
Dynamic Cooling Systems:
Implement systems that switch between air cooling and recycled water cooling based on real-time conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, workload demand).
Now I raise the question to brands and those who are opposed to this thinking, with overconsumption and garment waste being a rising issue with waste, is AI efficiency worth it? Will we just be setting back our progress in sustainable practices and just continue the cycle of leaving it to the next generation?
