![The Future of Design: ADI Automation, or AI/Human Collaboration? [Answered] | by Jessica Bennett — Tech Enthusiast and Marketer | Jul, 2020](https://nikolanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/1*1xF57BlHSrLtMIW9dQDTFA.png)
Complete automation might not be the exact future of design as we all expect it to be. So if not ADI, then what else can change the future of web design?
Till now, you had only two options to get a site designed perfectly.
Option a. Choose and hire a web design agency
Option b. Sign up for one of those “drag-and-drop” web design services.
However, now there is a third option, and that is artificial design intelligence, a.k.a ADI. This nifty little application of AI in designing the web has created much hype, and is already being dubbed as the “future of web design”.
So, is that true? Can automated design really become the future of design? Does ADI really have that kind of power? Let’s find out!
Till now, we had AI. in the realm of technology, it was like a unicorn, despite being a pretty well-known concept. The basic functionality of this tech is to take a large amount of data input and inspect them to recognize familiar recurring patterns and make decisions based on that. The more data it analyzes, the more pattern it recognizes, the better decisions it can make.
ADI emerged as one of the many applications of artificial intelligence in art and design, specific to the web design world. With ADI, the system analyzes the popular design trends and creates a personalized site design based on the requirements stated by the user. The basic idea is to automate the whole design procedure based on the data collected on design laws, trends, and best practices and how they might apply across the different types of websites.
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The theory of it all sounds good, but what about the practical application? Well, in the real world, the application of ADI is still on its infantile stage. There are a few platforms, such as WIX ADI or Bookmark, that promise the combination of artificial intelligence and UX design. But so far the number of these platforms is too few to be counted as significant growth of this tech. And then there is the grid, a 2014 AI web design company that flew too close to the sun and dropped out of the sky before even learning to fly properly.
So why exactly is this tech not yet a widespread phenomenon? What’s stopping it?
Design is art, and art can not be automated.
It is a popular notion among designers who abhor design automation through AI. and it is understandable. After all, if tomorrow someone came to me and said “your job can be done by an AI and we don’t need you anymore” I’ll hate the AI system. But the fact that artificial intelligence can not fathom design patterns on its own is not just about hating the system.
Design is an expression of human emotions. And web design is done not only for business success but to connect with the users out there. A lot of market participants, both on the design spectrum, and the client spectrum have their doubts about the artificial design intelligence for various reasons. Let’s look at a few of those reasons before checking out the solution.
Understanding Individual Needs
Sure, an ADI system with its AI design thinking is going to be well able to inspect lots of market data and generate a design for an effective shopping site. But will it be able to analyze the individual needs of Jane from suburban Ottawa who is over sixty and still has problems with navigating eCommerce sites?
AI deals with large data sets that contain too many variables, too many data points, and too many possibilities for us to understand. However, when it comes to design, having detailed research is necessary. Web design done with the help of expert designers tend to have a more hands-on approach. It’s a process where both the designers and clients get into the muck of data and dig up the necessary details. These details are used to create unique websites that cater to the individual needs of each customer, while also catering to the market as a whole. Maybe that is why artificial design intelligence has yet to get more popular.
Full-Scale Design Process Vs Question-Based Design Generation
Look at the design process of any web design agency based on major cities like New York. what does the design process look like?
It is a heavy operation. It starts with a user persona, ends with wireframes and clickable mock-up creation. And during every stage, the agency will include the client and get approval before moving to the next stage.
Compared to that, site design with ADI platforms is a fairly easy process. Just answer some questions, and voilà, a site with matching AI graphic design is ready in minutes. But does the simplicity of it really measure up to the depth of the previous process?
It actually doesn’t. While the simple method of ADI platforms looks better, it is nothing close to the in-depth design process conducted by a design company. For companies that are looking for real success with the sites, it is going to be infinitely better to spring for an in-depth process rather than the ease and simplicity of artificial design intelligence platforms.
The Purity Of Data And Its Impact
There have been numerous examples of how data can affect the AI system adversely. Bad data makes for bad AI, and this is one of the risks users of ADI have to contend with.
When it comes to data for AI-based design, a lot of things can cause corruption to it. Human bias, readymade solutions that do not work correctly, missing and assuming the wrong patterns, and many more contribute towards the corruption of data, and that leads to bad AI.
While using AI in product design, no business can afford to utilize bad data. The costs will be too great to mitigate. The purity of data creates a huge question mark in the fearless application of ADI and until there is a way to purify the data, this question mark is not going to go away.
So is there any solution, where we can keep using ADI, but at the same time do not lose the good things about the human design process?
Well, there is. The problem with ADI or its concept is the fact that it is too overreaching. The exponential popularity and possibility have created an impression that it can accomplish anything and everything. And to find the solutions to that as well as find the middle way, we need to let go of that idea and focus on inventing AI tools for designers.
AI is not going to replace experts anytime soon. And just like that, artificial design intelligence is not going to dethrone the web designers of the world. So rather than aiming for a complete dismissal of real talents in the field of design, how about designing systems that only help the designers in creating an enhanced design? A system that can enhance the creativity, effectiveness as well as the market understanding of the designer is going to do more for the design future than a completely automated ADI.
So here we are after discussing ADI, what it is, how it works, and why it doesn’t work. And after talking about all of this, I can confidently say that ADI can only become the future of design if it focuses on cooperation with the designers rather than complete automation. There are still lots of finer points of AI-based UX design that the system still has to master. So until then, let’s focus on creating a design future where designers and ADIs coexist.
Credit: BecomingHuman By: Jessica Bennett — Tech Enthusiast and Marketer
