Leena Nair, CEO of Chanel, recently shared her thoughts on the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for the luxury industry during an interview with Stanford Graduate School of Business’s “View From The Top,” Mint reports.
She emphasized the necessity for luxury brands, including Chanel, to engage with AI while maintaining a strong focus on human creativity.
In the interview, Nair addressed how Chanel is adapting to changes in AI and robotics.
“AI is everywhere, and it is going to be transformative in our world, so luxury has to engage with it; Chanel has to engage with it as all others,” she said.
She recounted a recent trip to Seattle with her leadership team, where they visited major tech companies like Microsoft and Google, as well as several startups, to explore how AI affects their business.
Nair expressed her belief that it is crucial to maintain a “relentless focus on human creation.” She underscored the importance of ensuring that AI enhances rather than diminishes the contributions of human creators, which are essential to Chanel’s identity.
“We are also high on ethics and integrity, so we want to do it in the right way,” she added.
During her visit to Microsoft, Nair shared a humorous incident involving ChatGPT. The team requested an image depicting Chanel’s senior leadership team visiting Microsoft, only to be surprised by the AI’s output, which featured a group of men in suits.
“This is Chanel. Yes, 76 percent of my organization is women, and 96 percent of my clients are women. It is a 100 percent male team, not even in fashionable clothes,” Nair noted.
Her reaction to the AI-generated image highlighted the need for greater representation and accuracy in AI outputs. Nair concluded by reiterating the importance of upholding ethical standards in the use of AI.
“So, it’s so important that we keep the ethics and integrity of what we are doing with AI,” she stated.
