AI & the Future of Interior Design
Every time I have a client show me an image they created using AI, I hope they can’t tell that I’m internally cringing. I bite my tongue and refrain from saying, “you know, you’re making my job obsolete when you use AI.” I’ve seen a steady increase in use of AI when my clients want to discuss design concepts and I know that, like everything in life, I can’t fight against the inevitable. AI is the future of interior design whether I like it or not.
But, it got me thinking recently about what are the benefits of AI in this field? Or on the flip side, what can I do for my clients that AI simply can’t? There are probably a lot of answers but I think the key is that AI can be a useful tool to provide data and inspiration but it can’t answer the biggest question: how? How can my room actually look like that? How do I make this work with my budget? How should I get started? AI can’t replace the expertise that a designer brings to the table. We know what is realistic given all of the variables with your individual project. We ask the right questions and discuss trade-offs.
For example, I have a client who showed me an image of their reimagined family room using AI. The room had gorgeous paint colors, new lighting, all new furniture, and the most stunning built-ins I had ever seen. It was hard not to fall in love with the image. But, I felt badly when I had to burst their bubble: their room would never look like that. “Why? I was pretty specific with my prompts.” The issue was AI didn’t take into account the dimensions of the room or the flow from the adjacent rooms, and therefore the furniture size and placement wasn’t practical. It didn’t take into account that my client was keeping the large sofa but the other pieces of furniture didn’t make sense with its style. And it surely didn’t take into account that my client needs to stick to a fairly modest budget. The built-ins alone would’ve blown their entire budget, never mind the added cost of moving electrical and patching walls. While my client wasn’t thrilled with the reality check, they really appreciated my candor and expertise. They laughed and said, “this is why there is job security for Interior Designers!”
The lesson here is that AI is a useful tool and as a designer, I need to embrace it. I’ve been exploring new software programs that have AI tools to save time creating renderings which in turn gives me more time to focus on sourcing. That seems like a major win to me! I will always consider myself a luddite who would still use pencil and paper to sketch ideas if I had my way. But as a Millennial who grew up learning to survive on the Oregon Trail, I will survive this journey, too.
