Diedrichs said teenagers can be influenced but they are also often “critical and aware, and have more knowledge about technology than older people”. <\/p>\n
“The thing is, though, we can be aware that these things are happening, but it doesn’t necessarily stop us from wanting to look like those images,” she said.<\/p>\n
She said she recommended asking if the images or advertising is “serving you, does that make you feel good about yourself? Does it make you feel inspired, lit up?”<\/p>\n
“If it’s making you feel lacking, that’s a really important signal to pay attention to, and suggests that maybe this isn’t for me to be looking at.”<\/p>\n
Diedrichs said AI models in advertising could enable small brands to have a large number of diverse models, or global brands to advertise in multiple markets. <\/p>\n
“There could be these benefits for diversity,” she said. <\/p>\n
However, she noted the “knock on effect to creative industries and people working in this space. I would never like to see AI completely replace” the artistry and creativity of humans. <\/p>\n
“As a consumer, you have a lot of power as well. You can express your views on this in the comment section,” she said. “Brands will see.”<\/p>\n
Zoe Lee and Hannah Marriott, researchers at Cardiff Business School said AI-generation fashion models and digital twins, virtual replicas of real models are becoming more common. <\/p>\n
Brands such as Balmain, Levi’s and H&M have experimented with the technology, they said.<\/p>\n
But Lee and Marriott’s research has found that consumers often reacted negatively to AI-generated models once they realised they were not real. <\/p>\n
In focus groups, participants told them they would “rather have a real person and way less people representing us, but they be real”, arguing AI models could never reflect lived experience. <\/p>\n
Marriott said they also found people would “emotionally detach themselves” from images once they discovered they had been generated by AI.<\/p>\n
H&M said it worked with real models in 2025 to make “digital representations\/twins of the models” who “themselves retained full control and ownership of their digital twin”.<\/p>\n
However this “exploration was paused during spring 2025” to consider the next steps.<\/p>\n
Balmain, Levi’s, TikTok, Meta and Google were contacted for comment.<\/p>\n