A model who used to work with New Zealand clothing label Huffer has claimed the brand used AI generated images of him in a marketing campaign.
Elijah Timmins-Scanlon took to Instagram on Thursday to reveal the brand has blocked him after he called out the clothing label for its use of “AI” after discovering an advertisement where the model had a resemblance to him, or possibly a mix of him and his brother, who previously worked for the brand.
“I was scrolling past an ad and I noticed an image that looked very similar to me,” he said in his post. “But as I zoomed in, it wasn’t me.”
Timmins-Scanlon said initially he thought it was his brother but realised “it was neither of us, it was almost like both of us combined.”
“That’s when I realised it was AI,” he said.
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The model said at first he wasn’t “100 per cent” it was AI, but had “started bumping into other models and photographers talking about how the brand is using AI and how it’s affecting them”.
Timmins-Scanlon is signed to modelling agency Red Eleven. The firm’s owner Mandy Jacobsen told B&T she expects the communication for the use of AI for images depicting models to become clearer.
“We do understand things are changing, but they’ve got to have a conversation with us,” she said. “We’ve also put on our invoices, and a few other things, that you cannot manipulate the image without permission from us.”
However, Huffer’s managing director Kate Berry denies that the image Timmins-Scanlon found was generated using his likeness.
Speaking on New Zealand radio station Newstalk ZB she said there has been no use of paid models who have then been manipulated, and that the only changes that have taken place were in minor, industry-accepted ways.
Australian brand expert and founder of Little Train Creative, Bronny Lane, told B&T the situation is “blatant identity theft”.
“This is no different to stealing someone’s passport and then using that passport to create an identity under that persons name,” she said.
Lane said she saw a recent scenario with veteran supermodel Paulina Poroskova, who discovered an entire Instagram account with her exact likeness.
The account, using the name Helene Sweety, was an “AI copycat account posting content and getting likes in the excess of thousands”.
However, because the AI account was operating under a different name, Instagram initially refused to take the profile down, citing that AI characters have their own set of rights.
“Had it been able to continue growing and using Paulina’s identity, the account could have become a money wheel, making money off Paulina and her own personal brand that she has been working on since she started modelling at 15 in Paris,” she said.
“I can see that companies might think they are saving money by using AI, but what they are actually doing is stealing from the very models who have helped them grow.”
And Timmins-Scanlon agrees.
In his Instagram video he highlighted although he isn’t against the idea of AI, being blocked by Huffer gives him the impression “they’re trying to make it seem like they are not using ai”.
He said from a consumers point of view “this seems very disingenuous”.
“One of Huffer’s core moral pillars is ‘people presence’ which I find extremely ironic and believe if you’re a brand that wants to go in this direction you need to be clear with the change and have some pride when doing so.”
“If you’re going to be using AI models then stand ten toes deep and let the people choose whether they agree with your use of AI models or not. But blocking a model is super shady.”
B&T has contacted Huffer for comment.
