In Professor Neil Leach’s talk titled ” AI and the Future of Architecture” what caught my attention the most was how he presented AI as a paradigm shift in our understanding of intelligence, challenging the notion that human intelligence is the focal point. Leach introduced the concept of a “second Copernican revolution,” meaning that humans are no longer the central intelligence, with AI representing a superior form of intelligence. Although quite scary, he proposed how AI can serve as a mirror to study our own cognitive processes, allowing us to gain insights into the intricacies of our own thought patterns, decision-making processes, and creativity (I liked his thought that creativity as a concept should be questioned in general, as it might be that it is only a broad term used to explain things we don’t understand).
This mirror-like function of AI becomes particularly relevant in fields such as design and architecture, where the design process is deeply rooted in human creativity and decision-making. For example, Leach suggested that AI has hacked into our sense of design and composition, by showing examples of how AI manipulates lighting conditions, rendering and our mental models of certain spaces with very little guidance. I believe this is a great way to notice and reflect on certain mental models and perhaps design by re-thinking them.
Another advantage of AI is of course AI as a design tool. AI is able to see patterns in the data that humans can’t, thus generating better solutions in accordance to possible constraints that designers might not be aware of. Leach also mentioned how clients will start requiring the use of AI in design processes, which made me think of how the role of a designer will look like. Will it only encompass picking the best AI generated solution? If so, how are creative professions, and many others as well, going to define themselves and how will that affect human identities?