Jun 27, 2024 16:00:00

Bag brand BAGGU sparks controversy after announcing a bag designed by image-generating AI Midjourney

Bag brand

BAGGU announced that it would release horse-shaped bags and other items in early June 2024. The collections were subsequently released as scheduled, but a disclaimer was added to the product page stating that 'the AI image generation tool 'Midjourney' was used,' sparking criticism of BAGGU from users.

An AI-designed horse purse is tearing apart this small but passionate community - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/26/24186635/baggu-collina-strada-collaboration-ai-purses-art

BAGGU will release bags such as

the Horse Bag and Cargo Shoulder Bag in June 2024. These items were created in collaboration with Collina Strada , a popular New York-based brand, and were extremely popular in past collaborations, selling out within minutes of going on sale .

However, on the day of release, a disclaimer was added to the product pages for the Horse Bag and Cargo Shoulder Bag stating, 'The product development team used Midjourney as a tool to combine and evolve past Collina Strada designs. After using Midjourney to mix two prints, the graphic team took the concept and inserted logos and added new elements and layers to complete the design.'

Some fans have criticized the use of AI, with

comments on the Instagram introduction page such as 'I'm disappointed' and 'If I had known it was designed by an AI I wouldn't have bought it.'

Users have also complained about the lack of transparency regarding the use of AI, with overseas media The Verge saying, 'Shoppers seemed to want clearer warnings and more prominent disclaimers.' In addition, some users have expressed opposition to the collaboration for moral reasons, saying, 'Using AI tools trained on other artists' works without their consent, like Midjourney, is no different from theft,' and there are also concerns that BAGGU, which claims to be ' contributing to the environment, ' has decided to sell the bag while ignoring the environmental impact of the generated AI .

Collina Strada, the collaborator, has been using generative AI as a design tool for some time, and designer Hilary Taymor said , 'We've been doing research into what kind of results we can generate by training our AI systems on our work over and over again.'

BAGGU has not commented on this incident.