In the realm of Commercial Architecture, AI has enhanced design professionals’ abilities to brainstorm building concepts and create lifelike graphics that help clients choose final layouts. The integration of Artificial Intelligence into everyday tasks across industries has not only streamlined workflow but given everyday users the power to generate content that previously required advanced knowledge of coding or graphic design.
While AI agents can fully handle “busy work”, professional architects and interior designers know that all that glitters isn’t necessarily gold. Generated layouts may be attractive and look professional at first glance, only a certified architect or interior designer can verify if a space plan meets code and includes necessary life-safety elements.
Simply put, human environments need human-based design. Though it may be tempting to save time and money by DIY-ing interior and architectural space plans, AI tools are not optimized to ensure that a proposed floorplan is safe, comfortable and feasible for human occupation.
AI Can Generate Designs, but Designers Create Solutions
AI tools can easily generate a floor plan based on a few descriptive prompts. At first glance, these plans may appear polished, efficient, and professionally developed, but appearance and functionality often differ when analyzed.
A well-designed, code-compliant space must account for multiple factors that AI agents cannot independently verify, such as:
- Building codes and regulations
- Life-safety requirements
- Accessibility standards
- Occupant comfort and wellness
- Operational efficiency
- Client goals and organizational culture
- Existing building conditions and constraints
While AI can quickly assemble layouts based on patterns from available data, it does not understand the real-world consequences of design decisions. Human designers are responsible for ensuring spaces are safe, functional, compliant, and tailored to the people who will use them every day.
Accuracy vs. Hallucination in Space Planning
Floor plans and renderings created by AI tools can look convincing while hiding significant errors beneath the surface. A conference room may appear appropriately sized but fail to account for required circulation space. An office layout may maximize density while neglecting accessibility clearances. A rendering may depict furnishings, finishes, or architectural features that are physically impossible to construct.
This glitch extends beyond space planning. AI-generated imagery can “hallucinate” details, creating visual elements that look realistic but contain inaccuracies, inconsistencies, or misleading information. Without professional oversight, these embedded errors can lead to code violations, unrealistic deliverables, and costly redesigns.
Licensed architects and interior designers are trained to identify these issues before plans continue down the permitting pipeline. Their expertise ensures that submitted designs accurately reflect proposed changes and built elements and saves the client time and stress by catching errors and correcting mistakes early in the planning process.
Protecting Client Data & Proprietary Information
Many public AI platforms rely on users uploading information into cloud-based systems to churn out summarized answers. Depending on the platform and its settings, that information can be stored, processed, or used to improve future models.
For architecture, interior design, and planning projects, this creates legitimate privacy concerns. Design professionals routinely work with:
- Proprietary business information
- Building security details
- Floor plans and access controls
- Confidential client strategies
- Intellectual property
Feeding public AI tools sensitive client information can potentially expose private data to unintended audiences or create opportunities for fraud and misuse.
The “Frankenfile” Problem
AI makes it easy to generate multiple concepts, layouts, renderings, and design variations with a rapid turnaround time. While that may seem like a huge boost to project productivity, the result is often an overwhelming collection of disconnected ideas that have not been fully coordinated or validated by a design team.
Project managers and designers can quickly find themselves lost among a vast sea of individually generated AI content that does not align with the main project profile. Over time, inconsistencies within the fine print of documents can accumulate, such as:
- Conflicting dimensions
- Incompatible design solutions
- Unverified technical information
- Duplicated work effort
- Multiple rounds of unnecessary revisions
Instead of saving time, excessive AI-generated content can create a spiral of additional coordination and quality-control work.
Human Touch Remains the Gold Standard
At HagerSmith, we embrace innovation and recognize the value that new technologies can bring to the design process. AI can be a useful tool for exploration, visualization, and efficiency when applied thoughtfully and responsibly.
However, design is ultimately about people, and technology works best when guided by human expertise. That is why the human touch that HagerSmith Design provides is the gold standard of design services.
No algorithm can fully understand a client’s vision, navigate the needs of a community, or take responsibility for the safety and performance of a building. Machines don’t need to worry about existing within an environment designed for human occupation, so machines should never be fully responsible for designing human-centric spaces.
Emma Draughn
Marketing Coordinator
Emma joined HagerSmith Design in 2022 and is a member of the company’s internal AI Guidance Team, assisting with the office-wide rollout of M365 Copilot for Business. She is involved with marketing efforts for all design groups and works directly with firm leadership to support business development, proposal development and external communications.