AIAs AI in product designing is fast approaching, the effort it takes to arrive at an optimal design is drastically cut.

We have ideas and often times have no means to express them, particularly when it is never seen before product. The human mind resists change as it is hard-wired to accept only concepts which are in use or have been used before. For a product designer, it becomes a Herculean task to put forward a unique idea if he doesn’t have the means to visualize the idea. Now, imagine there is a tool like Google’s Auto Draw, which can turn your random sketch into a design, in seconds. This is only one part of the story of how AI in product designing is changing the way products are conceived and designed.

AI knows the context

AI in Product designing is all about making the user experience better and personalized. When a universal product is released into the market it may not serve the purpose in specific circumstances. For example, a scanner is designed to take inputs from the printed paper and generate a duplicate. However, if the color of the text is not compatible with the output format, it should be able to change the color of text, check for spellings, etc. In a way AI algorithms empower machines to make decisions on their own.

Optimize the design process

Earlier products were designed out of sheer human imagination, constantly improvised through trial-and-error methods. Now that, AI in product designing is fast catching up, the time and effort it takes to arrive at an optimal design are drastically cut. Threat emulation is one key area in which AI in product designing is making headlines. Car designs with mechanisms like optimal tire and frame design to prevent potential accidents are one classic example. However, these are only a few tried and tested applications of AI in product designing and there is a lot more to come.

The ways of living are fast changing with devices like Alexa, smartwatches, and other AI-enabled gadgets. Although Machine Learning, IoT, NLP technologies fuel the evolution of novel products, it is voice search and voice recognition optimization technology that makes the job of a designer easier. Instead of moving the cursor some hundred times a minute, across the screen, a product designer can very well command the actions with voice control. Who knows with technologies like Neuralink a product design can be presented just by reading the human thoughts?

Can we replace human designers with AI?

When machines were invented, it was assumed that they replace humans, which did not happen. Similar is the case with AI. AI can never overcome human intelligence, at least in the near future. Product designing too wouldn’t see autonomous functioning of AI or machine learning algorithms, designing products all by themselves. Design and artificial intelligence can go together only as long as human inputs work for them. The artificial cognitive abilities of an artificially intelligent machine design the processes to enable better performance and that gives a happy ending to the story. Not so if the goal is not defined because goal-setting should be the sole prerogative of human beings.