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Can computers replace architects article
26 Oct 2021
Article by Jan Cudzik, an architecture professor at Gdansk Technological University. Alongside his colleagues he is doing research on artificial intelligence in hotel design.
At the moment their algorithms are better than human architects in 84% of cases, software is doing creative design tasks!
Can computers replace architects guide
Can computers replace architects? This is a question that we will be asking ourselves much more often soon. OutlineAI has just unveiled the world’s first artificial intelligence that is creating hotel concepts. Its results? In 84% cases equal or better than human architects, obtained in a fraction of the time needed by a human. Moreover, it is all even more surprising as the creation of schematic designs is considered a 100% creative work, where architects should excel over computers.
“Our algorithm uses the advantage of the computing power. For a human, creating a schematic design of a building requires creativity – because we can come up with a dozen, at most several dozen different solutions for a single property. Therefore, a good architect must have spatial imagination and experience – to know how to imagine further building. The computer does not need imagination, because it creates dozens of designs per second and in 15 minutes can create tens of thousands of them. Artificial intelligence does not guess which solution is the best. It just knows for sure because it has checked all possible solutions “- says Ph.D. Eng. Arch. Jan Cudzik, whose team is working on development of the algorithm –
“In the end, computers do not turn out to be less creative than humans – quite the opposite. In many situations, where for the same property we consider hotels with different room sizes, e.g. 20, 25 or 30 m2 designs made by architects are very similar in shape, regardless of the size of the unit. The computer thinks about each case separately, so the building layout will be completely different even if the minimum area of the room is changed by just a few square meters. ”
Why has OutlineAI focused on arranging hotel rooms and maximizing them?
“This is the most important question asked by property owners or investors who are considering building a hotel. The number of rooms is in direct correlation of how much a property is worth or whether it is profitable to build a hotel or not. For example, in San Francisco, each hotel room generates about 100,000 USD per year. Adding a few units on each floor will increase revenues by millions of dollars. ” – explains Alan Szawarski, one of the founders – “
This is not the only use of our AI. It also allows you to analyze type of hotel you should build, and which will bring higher profit. A room in a 5 * hotel will have higher day rate than in 3 *, but units will also be larger and property will fit a lot less of them. So it may turn out that you rent a room cheaper, but due to much higher number of them revenue of whole building will be higher. “
It’s not just about profits either. People want to live and stay in the city center because they want access to restaurants, museums, culture, and other people. OutlineAI algorithms allow to maximize the use of space, and they do not do it at the expense of living conditions and reducing rooms to microscopic sizes, but through their smarter arrangement.
The question remains, however, will computers eventually replace architects? “No, because still humans will be needed to detail the concept, check schedules design the decor, and then supervise the construction. Hoverer there will be more and more solutions that shortens time that architects will need to do their work and will profit from using them in the end.
Besides, it is amazing that people are starting to learn from our artificial intelligence. We have architects, which projects were used to test our algorithms. Many of them after we solve the real estate better, want to try to face the computer again and again. The most of them eventually start to imitate the computer in some aspects by trying, for example, to rotate the corridors at different angles like our AI – “says Jan Cudzik and adds -”
We are now in an amazing place in architecture. Computers do not have a human experience in designing, so they do not have prejudices, thinking imposed over the years, about how the building should look like. AI looks at every real estate like a small child – with fresh eyes. This can finally change the way people view what a building should look like. Thanks to computers, we also have a chance to look anew and see if the fact that we have been doing something the same for hundreds of years is the result of the fact that it is for the best or that we just got used to it.”
Jan Cudzik
Jan Cudzik (PhD Eng. Arch.) is an assistant professor at the Department of City Architecture and Water Spaces and the head of the Laboratory of Digital Technologies, of which he is the creator. Currently, he conducts research on, among others, kinematic architecture, digital techniques supporting architectural design, digital fabrication, forms of artificial intelligence in architecture and art.
As one of the first in Poland, he introduced solutions in the field of parametric architecture and algorithmic design to architectural design. For over 10 years he has been creating and teaching algorithms related to architectural design. His texts appear in Polish and foreign publications.
Jan Cudzik is also the secretary and co-founder of the Polytechnic Club: AI Bay – Artificial Intelligence Bay. He has been awarded many times and distinguished in international and national competitions.
Jan Cudzik
Outline AI Sp. z o.o.. ul. Mostowa 1, 80-778 Gdańsk, Poland, Europe
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