When in 1997 the computer Deep Blue won a game against chess champion Garry Kasparov, it seemed that we were about to experience an unprecedented technological revolution. In historical terms, we were, although it would take 25 years for the general population to experience it as a sudden boom: it was at the end of 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT, the OpenAI chatbot. Suddenly, AI is everywhere: according to a report by Exploding Topics, three out of four people surveyed (in the United States) use this technology, and 35% do so daily.
Artificial intelligence has also infiltrated companies in all sectors, and architecture is no exception: in 2025, 59% of the studies surveyed by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) claimed to use AI for at least some occasional projects. The percentage was 41% just a year earlier (and, in studies with more than 50 employees, it rises to 83%). That is to say, interest in and use of these types of tools are increasing.
“Lack of time is the problem in its adoption, but I believe there is a will to promote it”, says Pablo Sabariegos, architect and consultant on AI applied to architecture and interior design studios, as a general conclusion. “It’s known to be something that greatly improves time, but there are so many guides, information, and innovations that implementing it is somewhat complex”, he explains.
Current uses of AI in architecture and interior design
There are different speeds. In contrast to those studios that are still considering it, some are already taking their first steps and testing, and those that have already fully implemented the technology. How are they using it? Sabariegos points out that it depends greatly on the study and clarifies that it can be used in all phases of a project, from its conception to the regulatory phase. He gives an example that is already a reality in everyday architecture: “Before, you would look at Pinterest, create a mood board to collect references, make the plans, and then see the design in 3D. Now it’s the other way around: you can see how it’s going to turn out and, from there, project it while already seeing it. It saves a lot of time because with that 3D vision, which can now be done much earlier, you can detect errors”, he says.
The use of AI is already on the agenda, also in the field of parametric architecture, a type of architecture that uses algorithmic programming in its design. “It’s an architecture in which you don’t draw directly, as was previously done by hand or later in AutoCAD, but rather these drawings are made using parameters, functions that draw according to a series of conditions. In this field, AI is taking a qualitative step forward, because you previously had to know the programming procedure. AI is helping this learning process of these methods, accelerating it”, explains Francesc Morales Menarguez, coordinator of the Master’s Degree in Tools and Technologies for the Design of Intelligent Architectural Spaces at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR).
In addition to the building’s design itself, the architect explains that another important use of AI in parametric architecture is in projecting how the building will function. “Ultimately, a building is also an interactive systems that connect with people, with those who inhabit that space. There is a whole series of algorithms that regulate this operation based on what the user does (knowing how the construction will respond to those actions or to what happens outside, such as rain, sun, or wind), and thanks to generative AI, we are also learning to do them faster”, he explains.
AI tools for architecture and interior design
For all these uses – ” the limit is what you can imagine”, says Pablo Sabariegos -, both generic generative AI tools can be used (ChatGPT, Gemini…) as specialised applications, specifically designed to be used by professionals in the sector. As an example, Sabariegos mentions the image generation tools PromeAI or ReRender AI.
Generative architectural design AI tools are also beginning to appear, although, as Sabariegos points out, they are still somewhat in their infancy. “You give it some inputs, such as regulations, certain architectural qualities you want to see, minimum surfaces, etc., and the program generates different floor plans in the way it determines is optimal. The architect makes decisions based on the geometries created by the program. It also creates the 3D model for you at the same time; it’s like BIM, but in the cloud and using artificial intelligence”, he explains.
Without resorting to such complex cases and depending on the objective, even generic chatbots can yield good results if specialised agents are created and the appropriate prompts are used. You may be asked to generate an image of a building or, also for interior design, a room with certain characteristics and then review and correct it. Also, based on this idea, there are already chatbots developed or in development that specialise in a specific phase or element of the entire process of creating a building or interior.
An example of the latter is the tool being developed by Finvalia, a project promoted by four companies -Puertas Vales, Couceiro, Foresa and Finsa- that aims to contribute to the transformation of the technical wood industry value chain through the development of AI-based technologies. It’s a multilingual chatbot that transforms the complexity of natural wood into immediate and accurate responses. For example, it allows you to search by image for references and badges similar to those in the uploaded photo or calculate the cost of a piece of furniture for a specific space, considering surface area, stock, and other variables.
Will AI replace architecture and interior design professionals?
Conversations about artificial intelligence often involve a question that is sometimes asked and other times simply left hanging: what is the role of people who work in what AI may now, or soon, be able to do? In the case of architecture and interior design, what will your professionals do now if a bot can design and plan? “I think the role of the architect is not going to change much. The role of draftsmen or renderers will change, as they will have to adapt and use these new tools that streamline their work, but the architect ultimately acts as a critical filter that decides. AI is not perfect, it makes mistakes and, as an architect, you are the one who signs under your responsibility”, explains Pablo Sabariegos.
Francesc Morales still finds it difficult to see clearly because “we’re still just getting started”, but he believes that, in the end, it will be like any other technological revolution. “When the computer came out, there were detractors who criticised that without hand drawing, the designs no longer had a soul. This is one more tool. There will be bad architecture made with AI and good architecture made with AI, just as there is good and bad architecture made with and without computers”, he reflects.
In his area of expertise, parametric architecture, AI is helping to accelerate the process of learning how to make an algorithm, he explains, but it’s always better to know where you’re coming from. “Just as it’s important to know how to do it by hand even when you design with a computer, it’s also important to try to understand how an algorithm is created, even if it’s later developed by AI”, he concludes.
Artificial intelligence is and will be a boost for architecture and interior design, a way to accelerate, automate and optimise processes. While its application is not without challenges, the day when an untrained person can tell an app “design me a house, give me the entire project” and have that be built without any specifically trained human reviewing and correcting what the AI has suggested seems far off. But if instead of having to spend hours searching for references for a specific material, we can instantly obtain examples from a photo, or if an app can help with writing a report or generate images of a possible design to see how it would look, then welcome artificial intelligence as a human assistant.
