Finding the gaps in sustainability
Concerns around the amount of power and energy required to run these AI systems are rising. According to Ellis, the topic and how AI can help are heavily discussed during the course.
“In terms of our industry, though, because you can make more accurate models, more accurate forecasts, more well-defined products, and you can look at things like your supply chain, AI can help in those areas by finding gaps in sustainability or by making less excess product,” Ellis said.
Students Michelle Aldana and Amara Korinko both tackled sustainability and ethical consumption with their custom GPTs.
Aldana’s custom GPT, built using ASU’s My AI Builder, focuses on the consumer, assisting in sustainable shopping by rating brands based on set sustainability and ethics criteria.
“As a consumer, personally, it’s always hard to figure out what brands are sustainable, which ones aren’t, because there is a lot of ‘greenwashing,’ where a brand might say they’re sustainable, but they're actually not,” Aldana said. “So, it takes a lot of research to find whether it actually is sustainable or not.”
Using research and scrutinized criteria such as, “community engagement and impact,” “tracability,” “packaging,” “reporting and transparency,” “clean chemistry,” and “social responsibility,” Aldana created a 100-point system generated after breaking down each section into percentages. So, when a brand is inputted into the chatbot, a breakdown of the score out of 100 points is tallied and summarized.
Meanwhile, Korinko’s custom GPT is meant to be used closer to the root of sustainability issues — for designers and manufacturers. “Material Mind: Sustainable Textile Database,” focuses on measuring the sustainable metrics of textiles in any industry: in production, in use and at end-of use.
“The idea is that it serves as an informational hub for designers and manufacturers to research what type of textiles they can use,” Korinko said. “Consumers, I think, are getting more knowledge on what is sustainable … but I also think there’s blame on both sides. Manufacturers and designers should be more of the ones to be concerned with [sustainability], because they’re working with it all the time.”
AI as a tool for growth
According to Ellis, one of the top considerations for using AI in student projects is its ability to be a useful tool — but the necessity of avoiding reliance on said tool.
“It's a tool, but you can't just rely on it,” Ellis said. “Look at the output, look at the data, and have a critical eye in understanding what's happening, and if anything is being swayed. You just have to be very aware of where those risks and ethical limitations are.”
For Ellis, one of the most exciting parts of the course is knowing that all of the information they curate can be taken with them to help supplement their future in fashion.
“I feel like looking at these student projects, they have such incredible growth potential, even beyond the students that are currently in the class,” Ellis said. “And so I hope that this can become an opportunity for broader future projects. I hope these projects are just the spark.”