Artificial intelligence is increasingly being used in various fields.
Its rapid development provokes rumors about the disappearance of some professions that can be easily replaced by machine intelligence.
It is not able to fully replace human thinking, but it can greatly simplify routine work and even serve as a source of inspiration and creativity. Designers and architects have started working with neural networks. How they can be useful to them and how to use their potential to its fullest tells the team of ZIKZAK Architects.
AI-generated office design idea by ZIKZAK Architects team.
The variety of neural networks is huge. These programs have become available to everyone and thus have generated a lot of demand and publicity. There are even too many of them, and the leader is not yet definitively defined. Every day there are new tools or updates to existing ones. If you approach the question responsibly: you need to devote so much time to studying new products that it is difficult to find time to use them. That's why balance is important. We carefully monitor the range of tools, but test only the most powerful and relevant models.
We keep our finger on the pulse, of course. For ourselves, we've singled out Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and ChatGPT. We use the first two to accelerate the illustration of our own ideas for presentation to the client at the early stages of design, primarily during concept development. In a sense, these tools have replaced manual sketching. Of course, this is only possible if the request is properly formulated. Also with the help of these tools you can significantly optimize the process of creating a moodboard. And the latter comes in very handy when working with texts. For example, when creating terms of reference or an explanatory note for a project.
AI cannot replace human creative thinking and an individual approach to each project. It is only a tool in the hands of a skilled specialist, it will help with the optimization of mechanical processes. Therefore, based on our expectations, we are satisfied with the results of working with AI.
Its main advantage is speed. Previously, to illustrate an idea, you had to either draw it by hand, or put together a collage or find a use case. All three options took quite a lot of time. Now it is enough to spend time once to study the commands for making prompts and you have a fast and technically savvy illustrator in your arsenal. But it's all at the idea formation stage. Neural network for design detailing has not been invented yet.
AI-generated office design idea by ZIKZAK Architects team.
But every model has its flaws. Language models make factual errors at times. Graphical generative models may depict hands in place of feet. But these are all temporary flaws. Each successive release becomes better than the previous one. The familiar three-dimensional modeling programs did not immediately become equipped with photorealistic visualization mechanisms either. And now even a specialist can find it difficult to distinguish a rendering from a photo.
One of the successful cases with the use of AI was the presentation of a creative task within the framework of a tender. The team decided to show a concept in the form of a comic book, developed a script and illustrated it using generative AI. So we told a whole story of a future space with the main character traveling in it. This story and its interpretation itself impressed the customer very much.
Another example. For one company we design offices all over the world. The design of these offices echoes the company's brandbook and its positioning, but each interior should be unique, extraordinary and bright. At the stage of concept formation it is almost impossible to find references for such a request. Here, too, AI can help, in particular Midjourney, with the help of which we reproduce the most daring ideas of the future design concept and present them to the client.
AI-generated office design idea by ZIKZAK Architects team.
Artificial intelligence makes it possible to personalize the design. Thanks to the key queries already generated, a unified style can be formed. We don't have a single design code, we focus on the client's request, corporate style.
There is a myth that AI itself can become a source of creativity. We don't see that yet. It is a technical tool, guided by a human who does analysis, fantasizes and sets specific prompts. In other words, AI generates images, texts, but not ideas. AI cannot yet supplant the architect and his ability to analyze a situation, solve problems and make decisions. The information generated by AI needs to be carefully checked, filtered and structured. Neural network is only one of the tools of modern technology, which, if used competently, can significantly optimize the work process. In a world of mass production and clichédness, individuality, handmade, exclusive design with soul will be valued more and more, so that pragmatic machine intelligence will always be inferior to human creativity.
In the use of AI, the main advice from us is not to fixate on one product. Look for new ones, keep your hand in, mix different AIs while working on a project. But at the same time, don't chase trends: they are constantly changing and being updated (there are 100+ updates per week). It's worth keeping an eye on updates, but testing the best ones.
As already mentioned, the key thing in working with AI is a person's creative idea. You can't escape from progress and it is better to use AI potential to the full, but not to adjust to it, but to adjust it to yourself.
In the long run, AI will not replace the human mind, but on the contrary, will strengthen it, freeing up the time of designers and architects to focus on more complex and creative tasks, allowing them to experiment with new ideas.
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