Reflections on AI Theory in Architecture

“Does artificial intelligence needs human-centered design”? Can AI potentially replace architects in the future or can AI even potentially make design decisions as effective if not better than a human would be capable of? As architects living in 2018 our profession is mostly digital, online, and reliant on technological advances of machines to get our work done. If you think about it we are right at a transition point between being completely reliant on technology to produce our work that down the road it’s not completely implausible to have technology, specifically, AI produce the work from start to finish.

Even now there have been multiple cases of AI actually beating humans in games that require strategical as well as thought out rationality to win just like there have been AI even doing the work that a typical human would be capable of doing. This essay will explore the idea of AI possibly replacing architects in the profession as being capable to think and design creatively.

It will also review the work of current AI technology available being used in the profession and if it is possible for AI to think on its own to make decisions. This essay will offer provoking thought over the theory of AI in the field of architecture. From, before technology was even advanced all the way to the times of the beeper, humans have always been apprehensive about Artificial Intelligence (AI). We can thank Hollywood for placing those fears into society with films such as “2001: A space odyssey”, “The Terminator”, and “The Matrix” all making out AI systems into the bad guys.

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But just the way there are fears concerning AI, there’s also hope for AI as well. As with all things there’s pros vs cons, for and against. A very well-known scientist by the name of Stephen Hawking actually had a conversation with Larry King explaining how AI and humans could potentially coexist but with safe guards in place because a rogue AI could potentially be difficult to stop.

A statement like this clearly holds weight coming from someone like Stephen Hawking. Like with anything new especially in technological advances there is no good or bad regarding AI but rather how it is handled and implemented. Humans project their misuse onto technology and once you look past that you see how easy technology is hard to create, easy to use and much more of a threat to certain jobs/careers than our overall existence. So looking past AI’s searching for John Conner lets jump into the pros and cons of artificial intelligence regarding humans and their career fields. It’s a fact of nature that humans run from mundane and boring tasks so why not let machines take over in this aspect?

Artificial intelligence is geared towards detailed automated tasks which in the long run only boosts productivity of resources and allows that repetitive and very boring labor out of human. By taking this course of action humans now have the luxury to focus on creative tasks instead of boring mundane tasks. Now this sparks the thought “Well what happens to the people working these mundane tasks?” This does mean possible displacement having a negative impact on individuals but allows for a positive impact in the long run for the economy. This also encourages individuals to seek creative fields or go into fields requiring a bit more thought which encourages a competitive work environment. Artificial Intelligence also helps in making decisions in a fast and timely manner. For example areas such as scheduling, fraud detection and planning would benefit from AI. Another great point on why AI mixing with humans is good idea is the proposal on error.

There potentially is an error free process given that humans are the error. Machines don’t make errors, the only errors they making is when they are not programmed the right way. AI could potentially implement error-free processing of data no matter how broad the data set. This is packed up with the statement ‘Computers are ‘stupid,’ but that is their brilliance – they demand such a high level of rigor and AI adds quantitative rigor on top of that, that to use AI at all you first have to ask yourself the very challenging but stimulating question of what you’re trying to do, with a new level of acuity,’ said Dr. Nathan Wilson, CTO and co-founder of Nara Logics, synaptic intelligence company. AI machines also have the potential to do the jobs that humans just can’t do or would have to do very slowly as well as carefully.

An example of this is space exploration with the mars rover. The rover looks, explores and determines paths as well as information it gathers. This allows humans an easier way to approach the unknown while AI is gathering the known. It allows for humans to be more efficient in a way they wouldn’t be able to or be efficient in a much faster pace. AI over all just helps gather information giving a better outcome overall which can be seen across the board with medical diagnosis, forecasting, oil exploration and space exploration. As with all pros of theory there comes cons and with Artificial Intelligence the cons spark a gut-level response.