A Better Alternative to Interior Design Artificial Intelligence

Okay, so I’ve written about interior design artificial intelligence a few times. Covering the topics of, The Best And Worst Interior Design AI,A Designer’s Review and Will Interior Designers Be Replaced by AI? A Designer’s Perspective. But, in this post, I want to cover what I believe to be a better alternative to interior design AI (considering my review of interior design AI wasn’t too favourable). I am not against AI, but I certainly don’t think AI should or can replace human interaction and all the service-based industries. And I do think AI spoils the interior design process. A robot, or whatever, doesn’t really compare to a real-life human. So, what is the alternative I am suggesting? Keep reading.

Why do people gravitate to AI

Okay, so the reason why people gravitate to AI is that it’s easy, convenient and affordable. That’s certainly understandable. Conventional interior design services can cost a pretty penny, and this is coming from the source itself. The reason why interior design services are charged at a premium is due to several factors. In short; there are plenty of overhead costs associated with running an interior design business, plus interior design is typically considered a luxury service. So, for most people, hiring a designer may feel out of reach. However, now with the advancement of technology, it has actually made it possible for designers to offer affordable, easy and convenient design services through Virtual Interior Design, aka eDesign.

eDesign vs interior design artificial intelligence

Okay, you may be wondering; what’s the difference between eDesign and interior design AI. Well, in short, eDesign is a way for clients and REAL-LIFE designers to connect and work on transforming their space(s) through virtual video calls and design software. Interior design AI, on the other hand, is a robot generating room design from a limited amount of information.

Working with a real-life designer allows for a better understanding of the spaces’ requirements and the needs of the occupants. It allows for the design process to become an enjoyable journey in which the client and designer collaborate and tackle the design process in an agile way, adjusting the design as more desires and information is discovered. It’s truly a transformative journey to create the best outcome possible, considering all the factors such as; budget, personal style, functionality and innovation.

Innovation sometimes isn’t all that innovative

So, while AI is cool and can be helpful, I think working with real-life people generally produces better results in the creative field. Especially, when considering how personal interior design is. You see, sometimes people think interior design is about making a room look good. And sure, of course, we designers want a space to look good. But good is subjective. What you may think a good-looking room is, is different from what I may think a good-looking room is. The difference here is, I make my living off of making rooms look good, so I’m probably right. Lol, all jokes aside. Personal style, is, in fact, personal. And I don’t think AI can register someone’s personal style into their computer-generated designs. Aside from making a room look good, we designers aim to make a house feel like a home and create function tailored to a client’s lifestyle.

You see, there’s a lot of customization in interior design. The needs of a single 60-year-old woman who practices yoga 3 times a day and has 2 cats is different from the needs of a family of 4 who homeschool their kids and only drink organic dairy. That was an extreme comparison, but, valid, as people are different. Therefore, the way they use their home is completely different. As a designer, I need to really get to know my clients to design for them. I probe for information and find out things such as; if this person works from home? Do they often cook? Do they have pets? Are they tidy? Do they like colour? Are they struggling to find storage? What’s their favourite ice cream flavour? Do they watch TV often? The list goes on…

How to easily connect with a real-life human designer

Okay, so now you may be wondering. Okay, how do I hire a designer for eDesign? Well, you’ve come to the right place. I happen to offer some super cool Virtual Interior Design services. The services I offer vary from design consultations to mood boards, to full room redesigns and beyond. You can check out my services on my eDesign page.

If you’re not sold on me (understandingly, different strokes for different folks), the good thing is, that eDesign has now become a very popular service that many interior designers offer. A quick Google search should pull up some more real-life designers for you to consider working with.

In fact, I think Virtual Interior Design is the future of the interior design industry. As, since COVID more people are open and willing to participate in virtual services and this is a way for folks to connect with a designer more easily, affordability and conveniently.

When interior design artificial intelligence is useful

I’m not going to suggest that interior design artificial intelligence is completely unneeded. Surely, the technology is not the best as of right now, but I’m sure it will be improved over the coming years. I think that this technology can be useful for generating ideas, creating quick visuals, and coming up with a design scheme for a generic space. I think designers can use AI for their benefit. But, I certainly don’t AI can replace the human-touch.

I’m a little old-school and don’t think that artificial intelligence is the way of the future for every industry. Surely, technology may make some things seemingly easier, but easier doesn’t always mean better. Creating a home is a labour of love and a passion project. We designers truly have a fire and desire for design that AI just does not have. And we all know that love makes things better. You can taste the love (or lack of love) in someone’s cooking, the same way you can sense the love (or lack of love) in someone’s home. So, in my eyes, there’s really no comparison between AI and a real-life human designer.