Nike is using AI to turn athletes' dreams into shoes
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One of the Nike A.I.R. prototype shoes being shown as part of the Art of Victory exhibit in Paris. Photo: Ina Fried/Axios
At a Paris building that helped inspire the first Air sneakers 37 years ago, Nike is using the Olympics here to show a future where generative AI is helping bring athletes the shoe of their dreams.
Why it matters: Much of the discussion around AI and design focuses on replacing human labor, while Nike's effort demonstrates that the technology can also be used to explore and expand creative possibilities.
Driving the news: Nike on Wednesday opened an exhibition titled "Art of Victory," allowing those here in Paris to see a range of shoe prototypes designed with and for individual star athletes, with AI playing a key supporting role.
- Among the shoes on display at the Centre Pompidou are models custom designed for basketball stars A'ja Wilson and Victor Wembanyama, sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson and soccer legends Sam Kerr and Kylian Mbappé.
- In all, Nike created prototypes with 13 of its athletes across four sports: track, soccer, basketball and tennis.
- Along with the final prototype for each athlete, Nike displayed smaller gray versions of other designs that were part of the exploration process for what it is calling A.I.R. (Athlete Imagined Revolution).
- Nike, which also used 3D printing to churn out prototypes of the designs, isn't saying which generative AI tools it used in its process.
Zoom in: Nike used genAI for ideation, including using a variety of prompts to produce images with different textures, materials and color to kick off the design process.
What they're saying: "It's a new way for us to work," Nike lead footwear designer Juliana Sagat told Axios during a media tour of the showcase on Tuesday.
- "We used to sketch a lot by hand.. but I think my world is changing," Sagat said.
- Interestingly, Nike executives have said they had to push the AI systems to be more creative after noticing it was initially generating designs that closely resembled one another.
- "We noticed that a lot of the AI images interpreting Air were bound by a similar fluid aesthetic," VP Roger Chen said earlier this year, when Nike first announced the project. "We focused on the inspiration points that would push each concept in a specific, distinct direction."
Yes, but: Sagat says designing custom shoes for star athletes remains first and foremost a human proposition.
- "It's still a collaboration between athletes and the designer," she said.
