The AI Revolution in Product Design
Design plays a pivotal role in shaping our world, influencing everything from our clothing
to the buildings we inhabit. Every design starts with creative imagination, followed by functional
adaptations to meet daily needs, and is infused with a high aesthetic value. Therefore, designers
require a continuous creative spark to keep their ideas fresh and responsive to customer demands.
Ideas evolve into the best designs through the iterative design process. The design process is a
series of steps designers follow to create a product. It's like a journey designers undertake to
bring their envisioned ideas to life for market-ready. This process is time-consuming as each step
demands thorough designer research and customer approval.
However, this process can be expedited and streamlined with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
AI's remarkable ability to perform human tasks has made it increasingly popular and widely accepted for
daily work tasks. In the design context, AI can generate design ideas faster and more efficiently.
It can also optimise product designs, focusing on aesthetics and product quality.
Generative AI Technology
One of the trending AI technologies today is generative AI. It acts as a creative partner capable of
producing images, text, or music based on specific inputs. Notable generative AI technologies include
Midjourney, which can generate unique ideas; ChatGPT, enabling communication and text generation
according to user preferences; and Soundful, which can create music from simple text input.
According to The Edge, art created by generative AI is challenging to distinguish from original
designer works due to its equivalent aesthetic value. Moreover, with the assistance of generative AI,
the creative content creation process can be expedited and simplified. Recent research from the
University of Pennsylvania found that generative AI can reduce workloads by up to 15% without
compromising the quality of work. For instance, letter writing no longer needs to be done manually;
AI assists in producing complete and engaging notes. Similarly, with poster production, there's no
need to worry about image copyright issues because AI can create attractive posters and unique images
not found elsewhere.
AI-Enhanced Design
While Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) are familiar terms,
AI-enhanced design is a relatively new concept in the design process. Generative AI technology,
in particular, is regarded as a catalyst for introducing fresh and creative ideas to designers.
It can also adapt designs to real-world environments.
With AI's assistance, designers can quickly and easily explore various design ideas.
For instance, interior designers need only imagine their preferences and requirements,
and generative AI technology can transform those visions into several design variations.
Whether you desire a beautiful bedroom with specific furniture arrangements, colour schemes,
and lighting, generative AI can help generate ideas that reflect all these desires.
The same principle applies to product creation. Ideas provided to generative AI can enhance
real-world product conditions with the combination of colours and textures as specified by the
designer.
Designers can harness the generation of ideas through generative AI through prompt engineering.
Prompts used in generative AI include design problem statements, design criteria, and customer
demographics. AI attempts to understand the given prompts and adapts the best solutions through
image generation.
The generated ideas result in various product variations that designers may have yet to considered
creating. Designers can experiment with these ideas, test each variation, and refine the concepts
produced without limitations. This process continues until a design aligns with customer demands
and meets the design criteria. This process indirectly trains AI to learn the designer's preferences
through provided prompts.
In the testing process, using simulated virtual environments for product designs is a cost-effective
and time-saving approach. It eliminates the need for repeated physical production and practical
testing. AI simulations accurately replicate real-world product performance and rapidly analyse
results for key insights. Designers can address design issues and enhance complex designs before
creating a physical prototype of the product.
Are Designers Losing Jobs?
As generative AI is seen to assist designers in various stages, it has raised concerns about job
security in the creative industry. According to a survey conducted by Harris Poll, 50% of designers
express concerns about the potential for generative AI to replace their jobs in the creative industry.
Generative AI, however, still has limitations and can partially replace humans, especially in the
creative industry. Compared to professional designers, AI-generated designs lack emotional value and
cannot solve unique problems. Furthermore, no AI can function without human input. Generative AI
requires feedback from humans to produce work. By using generative AI as a tool in design, designers
can expand their creativity, explore new ideas, and create more innovative work. Designers must
balance their understanding of generative AI and use this technology wisely.
In conclusion, generative AI streamlines the design process by generating, adapting, and exploring
design diversity according to current trends and customer demands. However, AI-enhanced design
still cannot replace aesthetic judgment, critical thinking, and the designer's ability to produce
creative ideas. It is more about supporting and enhancing the designer's creativity and exposing
designers to the latest technology to be integrated into the conventional design process.
“"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." — Steve Jobs.”