It has barely been a year since Chat GPT went mainstream, and already it has made waves—nay, towering crests—in the creative industry. Architects are leveraging generative artificial intelligence to automate repetitive tasks and turn hand sketches into highly realistic renderings. Graphic designers are using it to experiment with new concepts. Artists are utilizing it to create mind-blowing installations. Even amateur interior designers (like me) are using it to redecorate their home office.
As we roll into year two of gen AI, we asked four top interior designers about their relationship with the technology. Design powerhouse Kelly Wearstler implemented AI almost as soon as ChatGPT came out in November 2022 and is now building custom GPTs to match her studio’s aesthetic. Maria Martin, an Austin-based interior designer and cohost of the podcast Designer Discussions, has experimented with every AI platform under the sun and concluded that AI is about to get quite a bit better at doing math, i.e., thinking spatially and at scale. Primo Orpilla from the San Francisco design studio O+A is considerably more skeptical about the benefits of AI and uses it only for occasional inspiration (though he wishes he could delegate construction documents to it). And Yabu Pushelberg is focusing on very specific logistical tasks like refining the material texture on a render.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how these studios are using AI today, and how they’ll be using it by the end of 2024.
Custom GPTs will revolutionize the interior design business
Kelly Wearstler was an early adopter of generative AI. “I was super intrigued,” she tells me on a recent Zoom call from Costa Rica, where she is working on a project. Even before ChatGPT went mainstream, Wearstler had already read books and listened to podcasts on the subject. But when ChatGPT entered the picture, she set the wheels in motion quickly. At first, she mostly used it for very specific tasks, like finding inspiration for molding profiles, or for material studies. Now AI has become an integral part of her studio’s schematic and conceptual phases.
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