SheerLuxe has responded to backlash after the introduction of an AI employee sparked fury among fans. The luxury beauty brand introduced followers to Reem, their new fashion and lifestyle editor in an Instagram post on 16 July. But it didn’t go down as well as the company hoped.
Commenters react to Reem
This is because Reem is not a real person — she’s an AI bot. Even more egregious, according to commenters, is the fact that Reem is a name of Middle East origin.
“Am I tripping or did you create an AI woman of color as a staff member instead of…hiring one?” one user asked. “This is incredibly weird and also insulting,” another commenter wrote. “It’s essentially taking away a job from an Arab woman when we are already under-represented and/or misrepresented in media.”
“Allllll that effort just to avoid hiring a Brown woman,” a third wrote. “We don’t bite.” Other commenters pointed out that they could have easily made the AI model plus-sized. “Come on. This AI ‘member of staff’ was created exactly how you wanted her to look and you STILL couldn’t make her larger than a size 8?” a fourth asked. “Very very telling.”
SheerLuxe responds
After days of backlash, SheerLuxe defended their newest staff member in a statement posted to Instagram. “Reem was born entirely from our desire to experiment with AI,” they wrote.
“Her opinions and choices come directly from the diverse team we’re so proud of here at SheerLuxe. No jobs were compromised in any way as a result of her creation and we would never publish any content that hasn’t had human involvement.”
Further reading:
- Your Favorite YouTuber Might Become An AI Chatbot
- From Innovation to Chaos: TikTok’s AI Avatars Stir Controversy Online
- The Three Biggest Record Labels Are Suing AI Music Makers
- Pokémon Disqualifies Artists Using AI in Illustration Contest
- Chaos Ensues After TikTok Accidentally Leaks Its AI Avatar Generator
