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Elon Musk’s estranged eldest daughter Vivian Wilson is front and centre in a bold anti-AI campaign for Spanish fashion label Desigual.
The campaign, helmed by directing trio PSG (made up of Yukihiro ‘Sho’ Shoda, Pau López and Gerardo del Hierro – formerly known as TURBO), sees the transgender model, acitvist and social media personality take a stand against artificial intelligence.
Illustrating the campaign’s title, ‘Born to Disobey’, one clip sees the 22-year-old using a robot as a golf tee, walking it like a dog on a leash, and trying to teach it to say “Desigual”. Throughout, the robot malfunctions, leading Vivian to the conclusion: “Some things aren’t meant to be fixed.”
Per a press release, the campaign aims to “send a clear message: the greatest rebellion is no longer about fighting against the system but about refusing to be part of it. When everything invites you to obey, the answer is attitude, irony and the freedom to be yourself.”
Wilson told People that it was important to her to take a stance on the impact of AI on the fashion industry “because it takes jobs away from talented creatives while being detrimental for the environment.”
“Art is emotion through expression,” she added. “Since emotion is inherently human, AI takes away any underlying intention and replaces it with plagiarized colors and shapes.”
Beyond the obvious (and potent) anti-AI stance, it’s hard not to recognise the barely veiled dig at Elon Musk.
Born in 2004 to Elon Musk and his first wife, Justine Wilson, Vivian began her gender transition at the age of 16, with the consent of both her parents. Elon Musk later claimed that he had been “tricked into signing documents”, whilst Vivian Wilson has insisted that her ex-husband was fully aware. On her eighteenth birthday, Vivian won a court case allowing her to take her mother’s maiden name, thereby severing all ties with her father. Having become an influencer and model, she has emerged as a leading voice in the defence of trans rights in the US.
Elon has said that his child is “dead” and that Vivian was “infected by the woke mind virus”.
In this context, lines in the Desigual campaign like “He was designed to obey. Not me” and “Some things aren’t meant to be fixed” take on new meaning, appearing not only as a plea against the AI technology Elon Musk and others like him peddle, but as direct jabs possibly aimed at her estranged father.
Additionally, the malfunctioning and completely useless robot in the campaign ad, called DESI84, looks suspiciously like the Tesla Bot (Tesla Optimus) marketed by Elon Musk’s company. Coincidence?
Last year, Vivian commented on commented the accusations that Elon Musk made a Nazi-like gesture at Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“I’m just gonna say let’s call a spade a fucking spade,” she wrote on Instagram’s Threads platform. “Especially if there were two spades done in succession based on the reaction of the first spade” – referring to the fact Musk did the salute twice on stage.
Wilson also hit back at claims that her father’s gesture could be explained because of his “autism”.
“I don’t know why ya’ll are reacting with such vigour, I’m clearly only talking about card suits,” she later quipped. “I mean I have ADHD and this was CLEARLY just an accident that people happened to interpret to mean something other than just card suits.”
She added: “After all, there’s no proof I’m not just talking about card suits. People assuming that I’m not just talking about card suits just goes to show how dishonest people/the media can be.”