
AI fashion models are here — and they're wearing H&M
CBC Arts ·
Social Sharing
H&M, the popular Swedish fashion retailer, announced it is working with artificial intelligence to create "digital twins" of 30 models.
The models will own the rights to their twin, and they can even let other brands use them. But with fewer photo shoots required to bring next season's looks to life, what will happen to other fashion workers like hair stylists, make-up artists and photographers?
Today on Commotion, futurist and former model Sinead Bovell reacts to the news, and talks about some of the labour concerns around using AI in the fashion industry.
WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube:
Interview with Sinead Bovell produced by Jane van Koeverden.

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CBC
9 hours ago
- CBC
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10 hours ago
'Skibidi' and 'tradwife' are now part of the Cambridge Dictionary
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CBC
10 hours ago
- CBC
Howard Stern's radio contract is about to expire. Should he keep going?
Social Sharing With Howard Stern's 20-year radio contract set to expire this year, there are rumours that SiriusXM won't renew his contract. In his two decades on satellite radio, the 71-year-old has transformed greatly, going from shock-jock to thoughtful interviewer of celebrities. Today on Commotion, culture writer Niko Stratis, former radio morning man Matt Hart and comedian and podcaster Ashley Ray talk to host Elamin Abdelmahmoud about Stern's notorious legacy and whether his voice is still necessary in 2025's overcrowded media landscape. We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player. WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube: Elamin: Matt, obviously you can't talk about Howard Stern without talking about moments that put him in the news quite often. Over his career, he faced millions and millions of dollars in FCC violations because he would do [offensive] stuff like this on the radio. Is it fair to reduce his entire legacy to being the shock-jock guy, or was there more to him than these moments? Matt: Yeah, I think so. And also saying it in a negative way, a "shock-jock," that's still a tried-and-true formula. People say that shock-jock is really reductive, and we look at it as hacky now, but that was — at one time — new. Was he [Stern] creepy and weird with women? Yes. Is it easy for us to look at that right now and say, "Oh, this has aged poorly?" Yeah. But we're looking at history through today's lenses, I think, with this. And was anyone super offended by Stern back then? If you were, a lot of times, it was really puritanical right wing people. They were like, "Get this smut off the radio." So nobody's really taking issue with the content as much [back then]. I think it's one of these things that now we can take issue with. But I don't remember at the time it being a drawback. People were like, "Oh, he's gonna say what?" You know what, I mean? He's a shock-jock. Elamin: Howard Stern often brought on Lester Green. But people who listen to Stern know him better as Beetlejuice, who's a New Jersey man with dwarfism and microcephaly, which means his head and brain are smaller than average. Niko, what do you make of the way that Howard brought out a bunch of different side characters and built them into what the show became? Niko: What's interesting to me listening to that back is the amount of humanity he gives this person that he's got on the air. And this is not an uncommon thing. A bit of it, I'm sure, is rooted in, "Isn't it funny?" But when he does it, when he's got these people on, it's not, "OK, now we're going to make fun of you on the air." It is having a conversation. It is, "How are you feeling, what's going on?" I'm sure a little bit of his winky-winky, that is part of it is that he thinks it's funny, but he's not outwardly insulting. It is like, "OK, you're part of this, you're given this platform." Some of these people will go on to have their own careers, which I'm sure part of it is trying to make hay while the sun shines. But it is this idea of: who are the people in the world around me — not just the famous people? Who are the people that live in the city, that live on the street? And how can I give them a voice to build out the world that I have created? Elamin: Ashley, what do you make of this idea of Stern having a pivot to be a more serious, empathetic host? Do you buy it? Are you on board? Are you kind of like, "It is true, but it doesn't make me forget the other stuff?" Ashley: I do buy it. I do think the Stern that we see now is sincerely disgusted with his old behaviour. I think he understands how he led to the moment that we're in now. And he is not a person who's a Republican. I mean, he is someone who believes in COVID, who really is pretty liberal and is like, "Now I just want to interview Jewel and Seth Rogen. I'm sorry that I ended up starting the man movement." So I do believe it. I think he does really understand that interviewing and making fun of people with Down syndrome was not the right thing to do, but I also think his response to that is to just step back. I think with his contract ending, I don't know that we'll see him pivot to YouTube. If I was him, I would just be like, "Yeah, I'm a recluse. I just want to stay in my house now, and I'm retired and I'm done, and I did what I had to do." … Podcasting, to me, just doesn't feel like his vibe. I think he understands the time for Howard Stern has maybe passed.