2026年4月8日 / 美国东部时间下午3:54 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
下图中这款男装品牌Teddy Stratford的斜纹棉布衬衫，展现了该公司专利“合身拉链”技术打造出的利落线条。此外，另一项技术同样令人称奇——尽管这件衣物是真实存在的，但模特、船只和城市背景全都是人工智能的产物。
这家纽约时尚品牌是越来越多使用生成式AI为社交媒体制作广告的企业之一，这种转型既能大幅节省成本，又能丰富营销内容的多样性。
Teddy Stratford创始人布莱恩·戴维斯表示，AI让这家小企业能够制作出专业级别的图片，而这类图片原本的制作成本高达数万美元。
“我们不必聘请模特，不必聘请摄影师，我们制作出的图片完全符合品牌调性，将我们的品牌形象提升到了预期的高度，”他在接受哥伦比亚广播公司新闻采访时说道，“而且这些图片不会让人一眼看出是AI生成的，看起来非常真实。”
戴维斯还表示，AI让他能够将公司产品推广给更广泛的客户群体，无需聘请不同身形、不同体型和不同种族的模特。
“我可以找到十二位能很好展现我们品牌形象的多元化模特，无需外出寻找人选、协调摄影师，或是申请在屋顶拍摄的许可，”他说，“我们不是卡尔文·克莱恩——我们不可能拿出5万或10万美元来拍摄一组照片。”
“作为品牌所有者，这是一场巨大的胜利，因为我们可以按照自己的意愿展示产品，同时不用动用本就紧张的预算，”戴维斯补充道。
追求真实
尽管戴维斯对OpenAI的ChatGPT和谷歌的Gemini等AI工具的能力大加赞赏，但其他品牌却采取了相反的策略，强调其绝不使用该技术的承诺。
美国鹰牌服饰旗下内衣品牌Aerie上月推出了一则广告 campaign，由女演员帕米拉·安德森亲手编写AI提示词，以此生成逼真的模特形象。但其中的关键在于：Aerie发誓永远不会在广告中使用AI生成的人物或身体形象。
该品牌在其网站上解释了“禁用AI”承诺背后的理由。
“2014年，我们停止了对人物和身体的修图。2025年，我们再次承诺，永远不会使用AI生成身体形象，或是修改我们图片中的人物和身体，”Aerie官网写道，“您理应在每一张图片、每一家门店、每一个瞬间都感受到真实。我们相信透明不是一种潮流，而是我们对您的承诺。不做修图，不使用AI。因为真实至关重要。”
并非只有Aerie在图片中附上了这样的免责声明，这项承诺反映了公众在区分真实图片和AI“垃圾内容”方面日益增长的担忧。例如，纸尿裤品牌Coterie最近也承诺不会使用该技术生成内容，并在Instagram帖子中写道：“AI不会换尿布。”
“为人父母是最真实的体验，我们认为我们的内容也应该如此，”该品牌表示。
AI能传递共情吗？
当然，广告行业长期以来一直在制作高度风格化的图片，这些图片往往与现实相去甚远——行业内诸多手法包括喷枪修图、后期润色和色彩分级，以达到预期效果。
从这个角度来看，AI难道不只是行业内用来掏空消费者钱包的最新伎俩吗？
克里斯·吉列特是一名专业头像摄影师，他依靠久经考验的技巧，以最佳方式呈现拍摄对象。他并不这么认为。他怀疑AI生成的人物能否与消费者产生同样程度的情感共鸣。
“看到一张幸福情侣的照片时，我会产生共情。但如果我知道这些人是假的，我想我不会再为之动容，”他说。
吉列特承认，一些AI生成的广告，比如Teddy Stratford制作的那些，能逼真到令人惊讶的程度，但他表示，其他广告活动中的内容“总感觉不对劲，或者说很怪异”。
在海量AI垃圾内容泛滥的当下，吉列特认为，一些消费者会青睐那些公开拒绝AI营销、坚守真实性的品牌。
“如今我们彼此之间已经如此疏离，因为手机成了我们与他人之间的滤镜，而现在我们又让情况变得更糟了，”吉列特说，“我希望人类对真实性和真实人际联结的渴望能够占上风，让我们不会完全被这类东西带偏。”
This male model sporting a crisp summer shirt isn’t real. Will consumers care?
April 8, 2026 / 3:54 PM EDT / CBS News
The brushed twill shirt from men’s wear company Teddy Stratford in the image below highlights the crisp lines produced by its patented “zip fit’ technology. Also, the wonders of another kind of tech — for while the clothing is real, the model, boat and urban backdrop are all the product of artificial intelligence.
The New York fashion brand is one of a growing number of companies using generative AI to create ads for social media, a shift that can save big bucks while producing a diversity of marketing content.
Bryan Davis, founder of Teddy Stratford, said that AI lets the small business produce professional-grade images that would ordinarily cost tens of thousands of dollars to churn out.
“We don’t have to hire a model, we don’t have to hire a photographer, and the images we’re able to make are really on-brand, and elevate our look to where we want it to be,” he told CBS News. “And they are not obviously AI. They look really real.”
The model and backdrop in this marketing image from shirt maker Teddy Stratford were generated by AI. Courtesy of Teddy Stratford
Davis also said AI lets him market his company’s products to a wider customer base without having to hire a range of models of different shapes, sizes and ethnicities.
“I can get a diverse crew of a dozen models that represent our brand well without going out and looking for people, coordinating with a photographer, or getting a permit to shoot on a rooftop,” he said. “We’re not Calvin Klein — it’s not like we could go out and spend $50,000 or $100,000 on a photoshoot.”
“As a brand owner, it’s a huge win because we can show our product in a certain way, without spending money we don’t have,” Davis added.
Get real
While Davis touts the capabilities of AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, other brands are taking the opposite tack by highlighting their commitment not to use the technology.
Aerie, an intimate apparel brand owned by American Eagle Outfitters, last month debuted an ad campaign featuring actress Pamela Anderson crafting AI prompts to create lifelike models. The kicker: Aerie vows never to use AI-generated people or bodies in its ads.
On its website, the brand describes the rationale behind its “no AI” pledge.
“In 2014, we stopped retouching people and bodies. In 2025, we recommitted to never use AI to generate bodies or change the people and bodies in our images,” according to the Aerie. “You deserve REAL in every image, every store & every moment. We believe transparency isn’t a trend. It’s our promise to you. No retouching. No AI. Because REAL MATTERS.”
Aerie isn’t alone in attaching such a disclaimer to its images, a pledge that speaks to growing public concerns about distinguishing between real images and AI “slop.” For example, diaper company Coterie recently also pledged not to generate content using the technology, writing in an Instagram post that “AI can’t change a diaper.”
“Parenting is as real as it gets. We believe our content should be, too,” the brand said.
Can AI produce empathy?
Of course, advertising has long produced highly stylized images that often barely correspond with reality — airbrushing, retouching and color-grading shots to produce the desired effects, among many other industry techniques.
By that measure, isn’t AI just the latest trick of the trade used to separate consumers from their money?
Chris Gillett, a professional headshot photographer who relies on time-tested skills to represent his subjects in the best light, isn’t so sure. He’s skeptical that AI-generated people will generate the same level of connection with consumers.
“I can look at an image of a happy couple, and I’m empathizing. But if I know those people are fake, I don’t think I am going to empathize with them,” he said.
Gillett acknowledges that some AI-hatched ads, like those created by Teddy Stratford, can appear startlingly real, but said that in other campaigns the ads “just feel off, or weird.”
Amid a deluge of AI slop, Gillett thinks some consumers will embrace brands that lean into their authenticity by openly rejecting AI marketing.
“We’re so disconnected now as it is, because phones are a filter between us and other humans, and now we just made it worse,” Gillett said. “I have hope that human yearning for authenticity and authentic human connection will prevail and keep us from running completely off the rails with this stuff.”