Can AI power a green fashion revolution?

Could AI technology help the fashion industry get to grips with sustainability, and arrest its brutal impact on the planet? With a huge carbon footprint, vast water usage and filling up of landfills, the fashion industry’s impact is well documented. But companies throughout the supply chain have rolled out tech solutions, many of them AI powered, to address these issues. How effective are they? At the growing stage, AI apps are being used by farmers to grow regenerative cotton. Other companies are using such tech to optimise orders, reducing the amount of garments that go straight to landfill. AI powered machines are detecting defects at the manufacturing stage and retailers are using it to help their customers make more informed choices. Fashion journalist Brooke Roberts-Islam follows a pair of jeans across the full fashion supply chain. Through showcasing technological advancements along the way, this one garment helps us to explore the possibilities and limitations of AI in improving the industry’s environmental record. We visit a cotton farm in India, where AI tools help to reduce water and pesticide use; in Bangladesh, algorithms in garment factories prevent waste through identifying defects in materials and retailers in the West are providing their customers with detailed information on the materials used in each product. The programme will also consider AI’s limitations and the negative implications of relying on such technology, such as the energy demands of generative AI.

Featuring contributions from Kuldeep Khatri, director of nature at Materra; Max Easton, CEO of Smartex; and Andrew Xeni, founder of the ethical retailer Nobody’s Child.
Sound design: Jarek Zaba
Producer: Jarek Zaba
Presenter: Brooke Roberts-Islam
A 2 Degrees West production