Artificial Intelligence & the Design Trade

Three designers — all members of the American Society of Interior Designers, New Jersey Chapter — share their thoughts on the benefits and downsides of AI

Kate Kennedy, ASID Allied

Owner, Katie Lynne Interiors | KatieLynneInteriors.com | Photo by Allie Ippolito Photography

A photo (left) taken by Kate Kennedy along with an AI version. “My client wanted a coastal scene, preferably sand dunes. I was spending way too much time sourcing the piece. AI helped me to manipulate a photo I had taken to meet her needs.”

PROS
Geographic Personalization: With AI to help me analyze geographic preferences, style inputs and functional design needs, I can present solutions that feel highly tailored to my clients’ specific environments. AI can help me identify varying trends and color palettes that are highly popular in specific areas.
Workflow Efficiency: I interact with AI daily to help automate client onboarding, streamline proposal creation, assist with social media planning and write content tailored to my style and verbiage. As a sole proprietor, these time-savers give me more room to focus on what really matters: designing.
Better Sustainability Insights: AI tools that help identify greener materials, improve energy efficiency or simulate lighting over time give me a smarter foundation for making sustainable choices — without hours of manual research.

CONS
Creative Flattening: When too many designers rely on the same prompts or inspiration banks, spaces (and marketing content) can start to lose originality. Good design still needs human instinct, storytelling and emotional intelligence.
Misconception of What We Do: Clients might assume AI eliminates the need for a designer. But design is so much more than producing pretty images — it’s about solving problems with style, flow and purpose.
Risk of Underpricing Our Value: Because AI speeds things up, I think there’s pressure to deliver more, faster. Clients may not understand that the creative thinking and experience we bring to the table still holds significant value.

THE JURY’S STILL OUT
Design Education: Will AI enhance creativity in students or cause them to shortcut the process?
How We Price Our Work: If AI starts doing more of the heavy lifting, do we charge less, or do we charge more for the creative direction behind it?
Cultural Homogenization vs. Inspiration: AI pulls from global data sets. That can lead to fresh inspiration or risk watering down regional design details and storytelling if we’re not careful.

Marina Umali, ASID, CID, LEED AP ID+C & WELL AP, ASID NJ Past President

Owner, Marina V Design Studio | 
MarinaVDesignStudio.com | Photo by Erica Moffitt

Marina Umali used AI to try different versions of a fireplace treatment.

PROS
Enhanced Search Visibility & Designer-Client Matching: AI has significantly improved how potential clients find the right designer for their unique style and needs. It enables highly targeted searches, which can lead to meaningful new client relationships.
Research: AI streamlines tasks such as material research. I see it as a great assistant that provides quick turnaround.
Creative Exploration & Inspiration: AI empowers creative experimentation. For example, for a chair design competition, I used AI to quickly render bold, unconventional ideas. It’s a great tool for creating a quick rendering of an unusual concept.

CONS
Inaccuracy: AI often lacks precision and reliability. In my own experience, many simple tasks, such as creating a floor plan, couldn’t be completed without multiple errors.
Ethical Issues: AI models are created from existing designs, which raises ethical issues on ownership, creative rights, intellectual property and professional integrity.
Lack of Human Sensitivity: AI doesn’t grasp emotional nuance, cultural symbolism or spatial energy. Its responses can feel surface-level and may lack the layered understanding or detailed follow-up questions a human expert would naturally provide.

THE JURY’S STILL OUT
Changing Client Expectations: Familiarity with AI may shift client expectations about speed, cost and output, creating both opportunities and challenges for design professionals.
Design Education Enhancement or Crutch? AI might enhance design education through visual support and rapid iteration or, if overused, it may hinder development of foundational skills.
Standardization vs. Innovation: AI could streamline design practices — or lead to repetitive, homogenized styles that limit aesthetic exploration.

Sharon Sherman, ASID, CKD, CID, NCIDQ

Founder, Thyme & Place Design | ThymeAndPlaceDesign.com | Photo by Peek Photography

Sharon Sherman developed this kitchen concept using AI.

PROS
Visual Representations: AI has the ability to generate stunning visuals and even guide design decisions, which is a game-changer for designers in presenting design concepts without a lengthy and costly investment in drawings and renderings.
Trend Identification: AI can process massive amounts of data, identifying emerging trends and suggesting options and innovative elements of design.
Time for Design: By handling the routine tasks, AI allows designers to focus on the more passionate aspects of design such as creativity, client collaboration or hands-on artistic endeavors.

CONS
Use by New Designers: Less experienced designers who have an AI-generated image and source book may not have the experience to execute that design. This can be an issue for clients and their trust in the interior design process.
Rigidity: AI lacks the ability to adapt in real-time during the design process. It cannot understand emotional attachments (e.g., family heirlooms, memories), which is what intentional design is all about.
Job Replacement: If basic office tasks are accomplished by AI, what does that mean for a new designer or new employee? It can have a negative effect on office culture and prevent learning the basics from the ground up to build the foundation for a design career based on experience and knowledge.

THE JURY’S STILL OUT
Depth of Creativity: AI may be able to assist in generating designs, but there is a deeper layer to the work of an interior designer that machines cannot replicate. Designers spend years honing their craft, considering aesthetics as well as the psychology of space, light and materials. They bring an appreciation for texture, form and historical context that AI can only mimic through learned patterns.
Emotional Connection: Designers are experts at interpreting a client’s unspoken desires, translating vague ideas into concrete design elements. While AI can analyze data, it currently lacks the creative intuition and flexibility honed from years of practice and human interaction.
Customer Service: Customer relations play a big part of managing client expectations. While automated menu bots are getting better at handling human requests, they’re not perfect and often leave customer needs unmet.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more on the benefits of hiring and ASID designer, see “The Future of Design,” “Tools of the Trade,” and “Why Good Design Matters.”