Yo, check it out. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been infiltrating every aspect of human life lately. And now it’s creepin’ into the world of architecture. People are all amazed and shit, thinking it’s gonna help with building designs. But, there’s also a bunch of peeps who are straight up terrified that AI is gonna take their jobs. So, is this fear legit? Is AI a blessing or a curse?
The experts in the field are all up in arms about it. Some architects who I talked to had different views on the matter. But they all kinda agreed that AI ain’t gonna completely wipe out architects and building design professionals. They’re sayin’ that those who embrace AI tools in their work will have an advantage over those who ignore the winds of change.
Let’s talk about AI in architecture for a sec. This dude Gopikrishnan V, who’s an architect and CEO of BuildNext in Kochi, straight up dismisses the idea that AI is gonna kill jobs for architects and designers. He’s like, “Yo, we’ve heard this shit before when the internet came around and when computers took over.” According to him, tech innovations don’t actually take jobs away, they just change the game and create new kinds of jobs. So, no need to freak out.
Gopikrishnan points out that if you’re not adapting to the changes, your work will take a hit. He’s all like, “Architecture and building design ain’t no joke. It’s complicated as hell, with all the calculations, measurements, and art involved.” He believes that designing is an optimization problem with a bunch of variables. AI can help by testing different options and generating designs faster. It can also highlight problems and suggest solutions, which can up the quality of the design. Dope, right?
Then there’s this chick Amruta Kishor from Elemental Designs. She’s all about AI bringing in some cool-ass concepts. For example, if you wanna mix a traditional Kerala-style house with some European vibes, it could take days to figure it out the old-fashioned way. But with AI tools, you can get results way quicker. Amruta also agrees with Gopikrishnan that AI won’t completely replace architects and building designers. So, no need to panic.
But what about drafters and technicians? Could they be at risk? Sanoob Sanalkumar, another architect from Kochi, believes AI won’t take away jobs from architects. There’s a bunch of decision-making and client-oriented planning involved in architectural designing that AI can’t replicate. But he does admit that new AI tools might pose a challenge for drafters and technicians.
Sanoob uses AI tools like Midjourney and DALL-E for his work. He’s all like, “Yo, these AI tools like Adobe Firefly, ARCHITEChTURES, Maket.ai, and Autodesk Forma are also hella effective and widely used.” He loves how AI can make designs more beautiful and fix errors in the design structure. Right now, AI is used for generating analytical results in his line of work.
Here’s the thing though. AI-generated designs can be super cheap. The architects I spoke to pointed out that if AI suggests a particular design style, it’s gonna be repetitive as hell. So the question is, will clients go with a low-priced AI-generated design service or opt for an architect? According to the architects, the smartest move is to hire a professional who uses AI tools and can provide high-quality service to more clients. Makes sense, right?
“Look at the judiciary as an example to see what AI is capable of,” Gopikrishnan says. Judges can use AI to analyze previous judgments in seconds, which would take them days to do manually. But when it comes to designing, it’s the architect who brings the quality, improvement, and novelty to the table. Gopikrishnan compares it to music. AI can create compositions similar to John Lenon’s, but they won’t have that same soulfulness. Only a real musician can make those dope tunes.
Gopikrishnan also points out that people’s perception of what AI can do is kinda skewed. It’s got its pros and cons, ya know? If we want AI to try out different options, we need humans to guide it. It’s a team effort, baby.
