Travel with me into the future of UI design with AI.
OK, let’s face it everyone thinks they’re an AI expert right now, though with 20 years experience in UI design, creative agencies and University schooled in AI and technology I feel I can provide another educated perspective. So let’s begin.
My top 5 predictions for AI in the next 5 years
Prediction 1: First up, coding is no longer required for general promotional websites, if you craft a UI design in any of the popular design programs such as Figma, Sketch or even Photoshop, AI is easily going to convert that into fully responsive website code instantly.
Developers are still going to be required but only for tailored solutions where the AI can’t infer your requirements through text or image based data. So no more ‘I can make a 3–5page website for you for $500’, those type of designers just won’t be required anymore.
Prediction 2: Design templates or design kits are also no longer required in a few years. If you have a well thought out idea, and can explain precisely its machinations, an AI program will be able convert that to a visually engaging website design instantly, with the complete user journey provided -screen by screen- and all edge cases accounted for.
Prediction 3: AI is going to be better designers than 98% of designers in just 3–5 years.
Let’s face it there’s many brilliant designers in the world but also a few million not so incredible designers, so if given the choice between one of those average designers and a tried and tested AI bot for design, which will you choose? And a little reminder one will be free and instant, the other will require time and money.
Prediction 4: Being top of Google will require only the best AI. Despite everyone predicting Google’s doom due to their awful track record with AI so far, we do predict this behemoth catching up in 2 years and then AIs will fight each other to understand Google the best and produce the most optomised website content for humans and also for Google’s search engine.
Google will do it’s absolute best to remove and rerank AI bots and AI content, so only the cleverest and wise AI will be able to circumvent this.
Prediction 5: AI will provide the intelligence for the unintelligent.
As a designer have you ever had a friend tell you their idea for an app and asked you to make it for free and you smirk a little as you know it would actually take months, lots of cash, and isnt a very good idea ?
Well great news, now that friend won’t even need to ask you, they just use all of the tools of AI mentioned above, first they’ll ask an AI to make the design then get it to create the layout template and customer journey, then they’ll get an AI to code it up, then finally an AI will publish it online, improve the SEO and SEM and share it with friends and family, and only then will your friend realise it wasn’t a very good idea.
But here’s the intelligent bit, they can simply ask an AI to pivot their idea to something more effective, more user focused, more interesting and then get the AI to iteratively improve it over time (these poor AI bots are going to be very busy), until eventually their very unintelligent idea will seem like a mater stroke of genius….and I don’t know if that’s a terrible insight into the future or a really generous and positive one.
Ironically: as part of our ‘no AI’ policy, no AI was used in the making of this post, from the visuals (sourced here) to the copy or any other media or process.
