Neil Leach, author of Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction to AI for Architects, here shares his enthusiastic thoughts about emerging tools becoming “a prosthesis for the human imagination” (recalling Steve Jobs describing the computer as “a bicycle for the mind”).

Diffusion models, such as MidJourney, are going to be game changers that will change the way in which we operate. Consulting these models for inspiration in the design studio will become as common as using Google or Wikipedia when writing an essay. Importantly, however, we must recognise that there are other forms of AI that will be deployed in architectural design, that will look at other aspects of design, such as performance. For the moment they operate as a form of ‘extended intelligence’ – or as an extension to the human imagination – where the designer remains in charge. Eventually, however, we can expect these all to be incorporated on to a single ‘data to fabrication’ platform that will allow building designs to be generated completely autonomously.