A popular UK lifestyle and fashion magazine has been criticised after it described an artificial intelligence (AI) “fashion and lifestyle editor” on its social media page as a “new member” of the team.
The editor, known as “Reem”, was introduced to SheerLuxe’s huge social media following – nearly half a million followers on Instagram – earlier this week.
But there has been backlash from fans, with one saying the company is depriving “human journalists of a job”, and they were frustrated by what they described as unachievable “beauty standards”.
In a statement, SheerLuxe said that “innovation has been central” to what the brand does but recognised that they “didn’t explain it properly” and were “sorry”.
The company says Reem’s role – like other editors at the company – is to provide recommendations for their audience, including things such as fashion, beauty and travel.
Images posted on the bot’s Instagram page show Reem wearing different outfits, as well as suggestions for products it uses.
SheerLuxe did not initially reveal the AI editor’s ethnicity, but fans have speculated she is meant to be of Middle Eastern heritage – as Reem is a name of Arabic origin.
Critics have also questioned why the magazine would create a woman of colour using AI, instead of hiring one.
The company have since said that the bot was “created in partnership with an AI imagery creator from the Middle East, and that is reflected in her likeness”.
“Reem was born entirely from our desire to experiment with AI,” it said.
Not all responses have been negative however, with some praising the magazine for being “innovative”.
“This isn’t AI replacing somebody, it’s more like AI becoming a brand ambassador than a journalist,” said Dan Sodergren – an AI and tech expert.
He told the BBC News that he thinks “it’s good they were using an innovation, but I just think they probably used it in the wrong way.
“They’ve probably done something that’s a little bit too innovative at the moment,” he said.
SheerLuxe has since issued an apology.
“Since the start of SheerLuxe, innovation has been central to what we do,” the company said in a statement.
“As we enter a new era of tech and AI, we wanted to stay at the forefront – it is clear we didn’t explain it properly and we’re sorry.”
At the start of the week, SheerLuxe had 467,000 followers on Instagram – when we looked on Wednesday night that number had dropped, and it dropped again on Thursday.
Admittedly, that was only by a couple of thousand followers, but this could reflect the reaction from some fans.
It also opens up wider questions about the future of artificial intelligence and its role within journalism.