Renowned fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee argues that artificial intelligence can support creativity but can never replace the human relationships and craftsmanship behind meaningful creative work. Speaking at the opening of his new 26,000-square-foot flagship store in New Delhi, he highlighted a plaque carrying his belief that “craft will not compete with artificial intelligence. It will outlast it.” For Mukherjee, AI should function as an enabler, not as a substitute for the human element.
Mukherjee draws a distinction between technology that supports human activity and technology that takes it over. He believes AI can make people's lives easier when it performs supportive functions, but allowing it to replace the central human experience would go too far. His argument is that human relationships are fundamentally different from automated interactions: people will continue to seek genuine connection, creativity and shared experiences even as digital technologies become more sophisticated.
His concerns extend beyond AI to the wider digital transformation of culture and history. Mukherjee argues that the speed and volume of online information make it increasingly difficult to establish what is authentic, particularly amid misinformation, propaganda and the rewriting or disappearance of historical material. He sees museums as important “beacons” of reliable information because they preserve physical objects and cultural evidence that can provide a connection to the past.
This philosophy also informs his collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, through which he will draw on thousands of years of art and cultural archives to create contemporary jewellery, accessories and clothing. The broader message is that technology can help create the future, but culture and craftsmanship give that future meaning. In an increasingly AI-generated world, Mukherjee believes authenticity, heritage, human relationships and physical craft could become more valuable precisely because they cannot be reduced to algorithms.
