Elijan Timmins-Scanlon, the model at the centre of Huffer’s AI controvery, pens a personal letter for FNZ.
So I recently noticed Huffer were using AI when I stumbled across an advertisement that looked just like me. But then I realised I hadn’t modelled for them for a while. I then assumed it was maybe my brother because we look similar, and he had in fact recently shot with them. But as I zoomed in it I realised it was neither one of us and in fact a mix of us, which led me to believe it was AI.
I didn’t think anything more of this until I had spoken to multiple other models weeks later that had voiced their frustration and concern for Huffer’s usage of their images for AI versions of themselves. We had all discussed – just weeks ago – about making a video about it but everyone was still very hesitant as we were unsure how that would all affect our careers.
I decided to dig deeper and went through their (Huffer’s) Instagram page to decipher which images were AI and which were not. Now, in New Zealand, the model industry is relatively small and models tend to know each other, so it was very easy for me to spot an AI model versus a real model. Despite having more and more reasons to believe they are using AI, it was a massive accusation to make and ultimately it was still not enough for me to make a video about it.
It wasn’t until I saw a post of a very nice AI model on the Huffer instagram account and I thought “Damn! They’re getting really good at this!”, so I decided to comment “yo that ai model actually goes hard”. If I was being honest, a part of me was being cheeky and a little sarcastic, but ultimately I wanted to see where they stood, offering them an opportunity to maybe comment and be playful, stating AI is the way forward. Instead, I got blocked and my comment got deleted. Not only this, but I found out they blocked my two booking agents at Red11 which ultimately made me feel like I had nothing to lose.
This was a major red flag and rang massive alarm bells. So me being me, I decided to voice how shady they’ve (Huffer) been and how they’ve dealt with this horribly. There’s nothing wrong with the use of AI, and in some ways I believe it’s a useful tool in day-to-day life and, dare I say, in the creative industry. However when it comes to the replacement of people and the denial of what they are doing – that is where I draw the line.
One of Huffer’s core pillars is community, or as they refer to it “People Presence”, which is super ironic and I’m ultimately confused by which direction they are heading as a brand.
AI was always inevitable to enter the creative industry and this isn’t the first incident to affect creatives, it just happens to be the first to blow up in NZ. I believe clauses for all creatives are necessary with future agreements with brands, and this shouldn’t be limited to models. I’ve had a photographer who shot Huffer’s campaign shoot message me that he did not give them permission to create AI versions of his photography work.
There should be some serious discussion about brands “misrepresenting” or misleading when it comes to advertising, because from the feedback I’ve received, people can barely tell an a AI model to a real model in today’s current social media climate.