Adobe Photoshop AI returns Japanese kimono images for hanbok search
Adobe Photoshop's generative AI image search reportedly returned Japanese kimono images when users searched for hanbok, Korea's traditional dress. A Sungshin Women's University professor protested to Adobe, warning the error could spread misconceptions about Korean cultural heritage globally.
What happened
Adobe Photoshop's generative image AI returned Japanese kimono images when users searched for 'hanbok' (Korean traditional dress) in Korean and English, according to reports received by Seo Kyung-deok, a professor at Sungshin Women's University, on September 4, 2025.
Seo sent protest emails to Adobe's social media accounts characterizing the results as 'a clear error and distortion' and urging immediate correction, attaching video materials showing hanbok correctly.
Reported impact
Seo warned that the error could spread misconceptions about hanbok to global users of Photoshop, and that inaccurate representation of hanbok images on global platforms could severely damage the identity of Korean traditional culture, particularly in the context of ongoing Chinese claims that hanbok originated from Chinese hanfu.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.