Is this message from a robot?

Have you also heard the words ChatGPT and AI countless times this week?

Everyone seems to be talking about it and well, I guess I am too. So what does using AI (artificial intelligence) in the form of ChatGPT mean for interior designers? What about Dall-E, which generates images. Or even Vall-E, which assimulates a persons voice with just three seconds of audio. 

Welcome to the future folks! It’s the wild west right now. So are you in, or are you out? Maybe sitting on the fence? Or you have no idea what I’m talking about?!

I see Chat GPT it as a new tool to assist our work, much like when other new technologies that are introduced. 

Creativity and AI

Is AI as a threat to creativity? Or is it a tool that can help us do our work faster and in some cases, better. That’s right, better than humans can. Creative writing, creative drawing and using our imagination is something that we thought only humans could do… not anymore. 

Think about when CAD (computer aided design) was new. If you’re old enough to know when this change over happened! It is now a tool that further enhances design. We can produce complex drawings in a fraction of the time that hand drawn technical drawings would take. It hasn’t taken the place of creativity. I see AI as a similar tool.

I considered creating this whole email using Chat GPT and I asked ‘How do interior designers use chatgpt’. However the answer that I got was incredibly boring. But then again, so was my question. Like any tool, we need to learn how to use it to get the best results.

What About Humans

We will start to question (and become a little more skeptical) about what we are reading was written by a human. Anything with 5 dot points and the end paragraph starting with ‘Overall…’ is straight from ChatGPT and I, for one, don’t really feel as compelled to read that. Do you?

Information is abundant so I predict that we will we be drawn to someone with an opinion about interior design, someone who can think critically. Basically, what it means to be human. Will a spelling or grammar mistake be a source of pride as proof that you actualy wrote it? I hope so!

Will we seek out opportunities for authentic interactions, such as meeting in person more often? Will we value shared experiences more than ever.

Will be find more time to appreciate and read beautiful and creative books? (I’m hoping this is true since I have a few books coming out soon!)

I don’t know… but I feel excited (and a bit terrified) for the possibilities .

What can we do now?

I think that Chat GPT is super handy for getting wireframe ideas. It’s a great tool for putting into words some ideas you have floating around. Just getting the ball rolling and making a start. 

Dall-E generates images so it’s a lot of fun. In terms of being able to ‘design’ a room we definitely don’t need to worry, for now… 

What Dall-E can’t do is know ‘what is good taste’. Sure, you can ask it to create an armchair in the shape of an avocado, but seriously… why?

I asked Dall-E to generate something that I thought would be generic and ‘easy’ but the results are way off the mark. “A modern farmhouse interior with black steel windows in the style of studio mcgee. white boucle sofa fiddle leaf fig and wood coffee table”

What can we do now?

I think that Chat GPT is super handy for getting wireframe ideas. It’s a great tool for putting into words some ideas you have floating around. Just getting the ball rolling and making a start. ChatGPT is scraping information from the internet and is creating original content. It is predicting the text from analysing the internet. 

It can help you generate ideas for emails, blogs, instagram captions and even writing client briefs. Tbh, I have no idea what AI may look like in 6 months time. I’m just not in the habit of using it yet. How do you see AI used for your business?

I think it’s important that we put our own thoughts, emotion, tone and ideas into the mix too.

AI is great for being an expert in a domain, but is it they wise..?

Perhaps we need to be careful about stereotypes. For instance when it comes to talking to a ‘robot’ consider Alexa or Siri. It turns out that a these AI virtual assistant voices are usually female. Always smiling, always serving and not a virtual hair out of place. We get used to shouting our demands to a female voice and that made me feel weird. This made me wonder about diversity and stereotypes. 

Ideas of ethics, deepfakes and biases make me a little uncomfortable. If we are just taking in the information that comes from AI and it’s holding a mirror back to us, what is it saying? If it’s scraping information from the internet, is it showing us the good and the worst of our society? What happens when the default bias is the only voice we hear. Are there enough voices from women, people of colour and minority groups working in AI?

So although Chat GPT is an incredibly powerful tool, at the end of the day, it’s just a tool. We need to make sure that we still putting our individual voice out there. 

That is until the robots take over…

Tell me what you think about AI

Until then, have a beautiful week.

Your design mentor and friend,

Lauren

By the way, if I post a blog that is written by Chat GPT, I will tell you, until then it’s written by me, an actual human!

I learned about AI from Carol Cox of Speaking Your Brand podcast. Listen to her three part series if you are keen to know more, it’s fascinating.