The Business of Fashion Podcast Why People Hate AI
22 snips
May 6, 2026 
Haley Crawford, BOF correspondent on marketing and commerce, and Marc Bain, BOF reporter on tech and culture, unpack rising public backlash to AI in fashion. They discuss why visible AI visuals provoke strong reactions. They examine cases like Selkie, how brand identity and marketing amplify outrage, workforce risks for entry-level roles, and why transparency and labeling may become premium signals.
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Selkie Backlash Showed Intensity Of Consumer Anger
- Selkie founder Kimberly Gordon posted AI-generated prints and faced intense backlash, including death threats, after confirming the images were AI-made.
- The episode opened with this January 2024 incident where cute puppy and cat prints triggered a huge social media firestorm.
Training Data Theft Fuels Moral Outrage
- A key driver of anger is that many generative models were trained on internet-scraped content without creators' consent, creating a perception of theft.
- Marc Bain links that resentment to broader concerns about environmental cost, job loss, and profiteering by tech billionaires.
We Use AI More Even As We Fear It
- Consumers and professionals have a conflicted relationship with AI: usage rises even as negative attitudes grow.
- Marc Bain points out AI is embedded everywhere—from phone cameras to social feeds—even if the newest LLMs attract most attention.