I can’t ignore the irony of the British Museum’s AI scandal

(Image credit: British Museum)

The British Museum was recently caught using AI imagery in a promo, leaving followers enraged and dissapointed at the stunt. While the controversial snaps were quickly deleted from socials, fans continued to voice their criticisms, proving that AI-generated content is still highly divisive.

While some may argue there are ways to use AI properly – from research to productivity – there's still a continued scepticism around AI art. With many attributing the technology to derivative slop, while others criticise its environmental impact, the backlash to AI content won't disappear anytime soon.

A post shared by Elly Lin - 💃🏻Fashion enthusiast | ☕ Cozy Lifestyle (@ellylin1101)
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On January 27, a series of images featuring a young woman in an array of different cultural outfits was posted to the British Museum's Instagram. While they seemed innocuous enough, followers soon noticed two accounts were tagged – AI model Elly Line and AI marketing agency V8 Global. In a matter of hours, the post was taken down after an influx of criticism, but that didn't stop the backlash.

As an institute often criticised for housing 'stolen art', many were quick to highlight the irony of the controversy. "Just saw someone call out the British Museum for using AI because it's 'ethically questionable'," one X user wrote. "With so many visitor photos they could have reposted, they instead went for this AI idiocy," another critic wrote, "clearly they didn't have the nerve to back it up."

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It's hard to ignore the irony of the situation, which, to me, is wrong on multiple levels. Adopting lazy AI slop is one thing, but dressing your fake model in traditional attire to represent the museum's immersion feels like cultural dress-up, losing the nuance and symbolism of the clothing. Simply put, it's eerie to see Western-biased AI don the skin of these cultures and trivialise them for a schlocky promo.

While AI ads are becoming more prevalent, so is the backlash towards them. The technology may be increaingly permeating our culture, but holding brands accountable for their AI slop advertising is essential to maintaining a level of quality and control in the ad sphere.

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Natalie Fear is Creative Bloq's staff writer. With an eye for trending topics and a passion for internet culture, she brings you the latest in art and design news. Natalie also runs Creative Bloq’s Day in the Life series, spotlighting diverse talent across the creative industries. Outside of work, she loves all things literature and music (although she’s partial to a spot of TikTok brain rot).

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