{"id":9139,"date":"2025-09-08T05:19:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T05:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/9139\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T05:19:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T05:19:13","slug":"powells-books-faces-backlash-for-ai-assisted-merch-designs-sparks-union-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/9139\/","title":{"rendered":"Powell\u2019s Books faces backlash for AI-assisted merch designs, sparks union concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) \u2014 Powell\u2019s Books is facing backlash over recent merch designs due to the use of Artificial Intelligence assistance.<\/p>\n

The bookstore released a statement on social media <\/a>writing in part, \u201cWe want to acknowledge the concern around the designs of our recent merch. The designs were created by a local artist using Adobe tools, which now include some AI-assisted features.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the release of the new merchandise designs, one person went to Reddit<\/a> inquiring about one of the designs that featured a wolf on top of a stack of books, writing \u201cPicked up one for my birthday today and noticed some of the books look a little wonky. Anyone know the artist behind this and the cat one?\u201d<\/p>\n

ILWU Local 5, the union representing Powell\u2019s workers, posted on Facebook <\/a>about the merchandise, writing in part, \u201cPowell\u2019s workers have been voicing concerns about the use of AI in these designs for months and company leadership has been unmoved.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the recent Powell’s statement they also write, \u201cWe value the work of human artists and designers, and we remain committed to keeping Powell\u2019s designs rooted in creativity and imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell\u2019s said they are looking for local artists who are interested in helping them make their next designs and are encouraging artists to reach out.<\/p>\n

KATU\u2019s Jennifer Singh is following the story and more updates are expected to follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) \u2014 Powell\u2019s Books is facing backlash over recent merch designs due to the use of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[11522,8172,489,10408,156,11526,11525,11523,111,139,69,2781,11524],"class_list":{"0":"post-9139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-ai-assisted-designs","9":"tag-backlash","10":"tag-books","11":"tag-creativity","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-imagination","14":"tag-local-artists","15":"tag-merchandise","16":"tag-new-zealand","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-nz","19":"tag-powells-books","20":"tag-union-concerns"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}