These new personal stylists are half bot, half human

Can't decide what to wear? Uniqlo, the Japanese fast fashion chain, has a solution: a chatbot that gives clothing recommendations based on human input, as well as your purchasing history – and your horoscope. The technology, which has been years in the making, is just one example of the extremes that retailers are going to as they try to build computer algorithms that can intuit the intangibles of fashion. "Instead of making something that's purely mechanical – you bought this last month, so you might like this – we're infusing humanity into the process," said Rei Inamoto, founder of Inamoto & Co, the New York-based firm behind Uniqlo's technology. "When somebody asks, 'What should I wear?' they're looking for a personalised answer."