Far from some distant sci-fi fantasy, artificial intelligence has made its way into all aspects of our lives, and the fashion industry is no exception. Executives are using AI to support everything from merchandise planning and manufacturing to marketing, leveraging its ability to crunch numbers quickly, automate tasks and generate content.

The use cases and adoption rates for AI are only accelerating. “We’ve all seen the change, and we’ve all experienced the change, but the pace of change in technology is increasing much more rapidly now,” said Jim Stetz, vice president of dedicated contract carriage for NationaLease.

This uptick is for good reason, with automation and data analytics offering countless benefits and competitive advantages such as cost and time savings, real-time insights and more accurate forecasting for on-point assortment planning. Natural language processing also makes search more intuitive, whether it is an executive looking to parse complex data sets housed in internal software or a consumer searching for a specific style on an e-commerce site.

Although AI is getting smarter, there are still holes in the technology’s capabilities. Experts are skeptical of letting AI act independently, particularly in areas such as self-driving trucks and customer service. Therefore, AI’s place is to empower human workers and drive efficiencies, allowing creatives, management and more to do their jobs better.

Download this special SJ x WWD Tech Report to learn more about:

• How artificial intelligence is improving demand forecasting for brands like Asos and APL
• How retail giants Walmart and Amazon are rolling out AI, and where their strategies differ
• Which areas of AI are piquing investor interest, and retail startups that recently raised capital
• AI’s potential for making freight trucking safer and seamless
• How AI is enabling more engaging consumer-facing communications and experiences, including personalization
• Must-know legislation altering and regulating how companies can use AI, and what companies risk if they don’t comply