{"id":262591,"date":"2025-07-13T21:46:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T21:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/262591\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T21:46:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T21:46:13","slug":"ive-been-a-designer-for-20-years-heres-the-kind-of-ai-we-actually-want","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/262591\/","title":{"rendered":"I’ve been a designer for 20 years \u2013 here’s the kind of AI we actually want"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s get one thing straight: Most AI tools for real-world designers today exist outside the act of creation.<\/p>\n

Built to impress \u2013 not to support. And today\u2019s browsers are not fit-for-purpose for the design process.<\/p>\n

They ask designers to pause their work, stop designing to start searching, or leave their flow state entirely just to interact with something that promises help.<\/p>\n

But design doesn\u2019t work like that.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Design is movement. It has forward momentum. It’s reactionary. Because the real magic of design happens in the middle of a great creative mess<\/strong> \u2013 not at the moment when you hit \u201cgenerate\u201d.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why real-world designers don\u2019t want Fictional AI, AI that produces fantasy slop.
They want Practical AI, tools that help you flow better, faster, and with less friction \u2013without ever stepping out of your zone.<\/p>\n

But Practical AI tools have to live inside the creative act. Not as an assistant in the corner but as an exo-skeleton expanding and organising your Great Creative Mess.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dig in\u2026 (then see this practical guide for using AI in architecture<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Daily design news, reviews, how-tos and more, as picked by the editors.<\/p>\n

\"Functional<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Guy Ailion)The Great Creative Mess<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a truth every designer knows, and I certainly do having spent 20 years designing luxury homes:<\/p>\n

The real magic of design doesn\u2019t happen at the end \u2013 or when you hit the \u2018imagine\u2019 button, today. It happens in the middle. In the middle of a controlled chaos surrounded by a giant mess.<\/p>\n

This mess might literally be shards of stone and dust for a marble sculptor, or hundreds of folders named Final_Final_FINAL, or more recently it\u2019s 67,000 generated images of a cat, aka AI slop.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also in the napkin sketches, the half-finished boards, the 70 saved tabs, the forgotten screenshots, the conflicting client requests, the second-guessing, and the paradox of choice.<\/p>\n

This mess is the evidence of our craft. It\u2019s our Great Creative Mess. <\/strong>Full of discards and deviations.<\/p>\n

And the Great Creative Mess<\/strong> is where the real work happens. It\u2019s where the flow state lives. Where happy accidents spark new ideas. Where options multiply. Where patterns start to form \u2013 and then distill into clarity.<\/p>\n

Good designers don\u2019t fear the mess. They need it.<\/p>\n

If we design Practical AI tools the right way \u2013 tools that remove friction, automate the boring parts, and speed up the heavy lifting \u2013 the mess doesn\u2019t disappear. It gets bigger. And that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n

Because more mess means more exploration. More ideas. More combinations. More ways to get better, faster.<\/p>\n

But only if the AI is built inside the act. Not on the sidelines. Not as an afterthought. But inside the Great Creative Mess \u2013 where the real work lives.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where Practical AI belongs.<\/p>\n

Ok, let\u2019s get clear on the difference between Fictional AI and Practical AI for real-world designers.<\/p>\n

Fictional AI vs Practical AI (Fuelled by Functional AI)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how I\u2019m defining it for real-world designers:<\/p>\n

\"Functional<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Guy Ailion)<\/p>\n

And most AI tools right now? Fictional.
But the ones that will win? Practical.<\/p>\n

Fictional AI and Practical AI refer to the applications we use, the tools we play with, the interfaces we engage with. They are all the \u2018Application layer\u2019, and they are fueled by a \u2018Foundation Layer\u2019 we\u2019ll call Functional AI for this article.<\/p>\n

Functional AI<\/p>\n

Functional AI exists beneath these applications, often referred to at the \u2018Foundation Layer\u2019. It is the Large Language Models (LLM) or foundational models that provide the infrastructure to support and fuel all the applications at the top. So without Functional AI there is no Practical AI and Fictional AI solutions. Functional AI is the life blood for both Fictional AI applications and Practical AI applications. But we are here to talk about the Fictional AI and Practical AI tools for the future.<\/p>\n

\"Functional<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Guy Ailion)The problem with Fictional AI for real-world designers, and why they need Practical AI<\/p>\n

Real-world designers like Interior Designers and Architects aren\u2019t here for fantasy.<\/p>\n

These are professionals who balance value, time, and quality like second nature. They\u2019re crafters, not artists. They build things you touch and feel. They make hundreds of tiny decisions every week. And they have a sharp nose for sniffing out what\u2019s real \u2014 and what\u2019s fluff.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not looking for AI tools that generate dreamy, otherworldly images with imaginary products, impractical staircases and chairs that don’t exist. Yes, they might get clicks on Instagram<\/a>. Capture eyeballs in deep scroll states. Boost ideation. But try presenting that to a real client, on a real budget, with real contractors \u2013 and it falls apart fast \u2013 as these frustrated designers sick of AI attest<\/a> to.<\/p>\n

Their design flow is built on pulling references, sampling finishes, cross-checking availability, nudging an idea into place \u2013 not by typing a prompt and hoping for the best.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all seen those AI-generated interior design renders that look like they came out of a sci-fi movie. They\u2019re beautiful. Hypnotic, even.<\/p>\n

But they aren\u2019t usable. (Yet)<\/p>\n

The stone doesn\u2019t exist. The sofa isn\u2019t to scale or cannot be interrogated. The lighting and flooring does not pass code. And good luck trying to source any of it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about accuracy \u2013 it\u2019s about relevance. These tools don\u2019t understand the real work of design. They\u2019re not built for that job. They\u2019re built to challenge our imagination. To fantasise.<\/p>\n

However, real-world designers don\u2019t want to waste time cleaning up fantasy. They want tools that help them move faster toward a real result.<\/p>\n

So for real world designers:<\/p>\n

Fictional AI<\/strong> delivers fantasy outputs: un-sourceable, non-spec\u2019d images that entertain but can\u2019t be built on.<\/p>\n

Practical AI<\/strong> lives inside the design process: it speeds up real tasks, finds actual materials, generates images with real materials, automates admin, and keeps you in flow.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why designers don\u2019t want Fictional AI.
They want Practical AI.<\/p>\n

Designers need help where it counts, making easier the administrative tasks and cognitive processes that get in the way of the design process, like:<\/p>\n

Speeding up moodboards and material selection.<\/p>\n