Design By Algorithm; Will Robots Replace Fashion Designers?

As I welcome a new group of design students to my class this week, I find myself contemplating this question as the buzz around Artificial Intelligence heats up. StitchFix, a Silicon Valley-based subscription box service, already uses algorithms based on customer feedback to create the perfect blouse. Styles are broken down into variables––a sleeve, a lace trim, a body shape––that have proved successful, and these variables are reassembled a la carte into one desirable whole. The result of the kind of technology that has been common in the aviation industry, or that assembled the car in your garage, could soon be parked in a closet near you. So, do I need to send my students home, tell their parents to save on tuition?