Phone case design bot goes rogue

A bot that designed iPhone cases printed with random stock photographs for sale on Amazon appeared to go rogue, offering thousands of tacky and inappropriate designs.

Per The Guardian, these included an iPhone 6 case with a picture of 'Male hands with soap dispenser use in the restroom', another featuring an 'Irrigation pipe in dirt trenches for sprinkler system' and ... one illustrated with an 'adult diaper worn by an old man with a crutch'.

It was unclear who set the bot and Amazon account up. Not did the creator advise potential buyers that the designs were generated using artificial intelligence.

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2017/7/10/15946296/amazon-bot-smartphone-cases

• https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-amazon-ai-designed-phone-cases-fail/

• https://gizmodo.com/an-amazon-bot-is-making-the-greatest-smartphone-cases-1796757891

• https://www.iflscience.com/technology/amazon-ai-designed-to-create-phone-cases-goes-hilariously-wrong/

• https://metro.co.uk/2017/07/10/a-horrendous-amazon-store-account-is-selling-phone-covers-of-our-nightmares-6767800/

• https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/odd-smartphone-cases/

• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2017/jul/11/the-automated-amazon-seller-making-the-worst-phone-cases-ever

• https://twitter.com/rjurney/status/883850417574035456