AI is changing the way we do things, online, in business and even in the real world. In the web design and development industry, we’re seeing a rise in the number of clients wanting to use AI in their projects, hoping to harness its power to create better experiences in less time with smaller budgets.
So let's take a look at how AI is currently used in website development. How it can help, how it can hurt, and how to make sure you’re using it in the right way to create a successful website or app.
We’ll talk about:
- ADI Systems: What is AI for Web Design?
- Differences Between ADI and Agency Design
- How Development Agencies use AI
- AI and Coding
- How to Choose Between AI and Agency Website Design
This should give you all the information you need about whether you should rely on AI to create your next web project, or how your agency can use it to power their productivity.
ADI Systems: What is AI for Web Design?
AI can be used in a variety of ways within the web development industry. It can be a useful tool to speed up processes and asset creation, a method to test systems and usability, but it can also be used to create designs and code.
AI powered services and applications to create websites are also known as ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) Systems.
Several website builder services, such as Wix and Shopify now provide an ADI service, using AI to make the website creation process even simpler and quicker.
It’s also opening the industry to new companies and providers who use ADI Systems or a suite of AI products to produce websites for clients, without needing designers or developers or needing to have any experience with coding themselves.
So, does this mean that AI is replacing design and development agencies? Far from it!
It makes sense for web builder services to harness the power of AI, as their target audience is looking for a fast, cheap website they can manage themselves.
But anyone looking for a more sophisticated, unique or functional web product is unlikely to be able to achieve what they need with an AI builder. And attempting to go it alone using AI tools is likely to be a lot more complex than you may think too.
The Differences Between AI and Agency Website Design
If you’re considering using AI to create your new website, there are a lot of different things to take into consideration, from speed and affordability to security and functionality. Here are the key things you should consider before making your choice.
Originality
One thing to remember about AI, is that it’s not truly “intelligent”, it’s actually more generative - creating something out of what it already has familiarity with. That means your website is likely to look similar to a lot of other websites.
If you want to stand out, rather than blend in, you need actual humans to create something unique, engaging and compelling. An agency will take the time to actually get to know you, your organisation and your customers, and can create a website that’s set up to make an actual difference to your business.
All AI can do is look at what everyone else does, and create a variation of that.
Timescales
An ADI System can generate a website incredibly quickly. But you may find it takes a lot of tweaks and tidying to get close to what you really want. But it’s still definitely going to be faster than an agency can build you something bespoke.
Time
While it’s definitely faster to create a website using an ADI system, you also need to factor in your own personal investment of time for the project.
You’ll need to manage all testing, updates, tweaks and changes yourself, as well as providing all the assets such as content and imagery, and keeping the website, its code and security up to date.
Complexity
AI can only cope with simple websites - and not just in terms of functionality. It also can’t manage the depth and complexity that you’d expect from the sort of modern design that an agency can provide.
Any requirements that are outside the norm, or any flourishes that would elevate your website above your competitors can’t be generated by AI, as it doesn’t have the ability to truly create.
Longevity
Be careful of using an ADI System if you want your new website to last more than a year or so - particularly if this is a new venture.
Because AI websites are pretty basic, you may find yourself growing out of yours and having to get a new one much sooner than you think. You’ll also be responsible for keeping the code and system up to date yourself, which could leave you with a website that quickly becomes outdated and unsecure.
Support
If you go with an AI website, be prepared to be your own web designer, developer and maintenance and support provider. Even using an ADI System from someone like Wix or Shopify, the support you’ll be getting will not be from actual developers, just the customer service desk.
That means if anything goes wrong, needs updating, fixing or just re-doing, you’re going to have to learn how to do it yourself.
Performance
UX issues, coding errors, accessibility problems, responsive design, slow pagespeed, security concerns, poor technical SEO. All these are common problems with AI website development, because there are no actual designers or developers to ensure best practice and proper standards.
Additional Services
Working with a digital agency means that you’re going to get the benefit of their expertise in a wide range of areas.
Not only can they provide you with the design and development services you need, they can also give advice and support with content and asset creation, SEO and AEO, as well as additional features and functionality that could enhance your project.
Cost
Let’s be honest, the biggest reason most people consider an AI designed website is down to cost. And up front, it’s absolutely going to be cheaper for you.
But there is definitely an element of false economy with AI websites that you need to consider.
If your AI website doesn’t actually do what you need it to, if you outgrow it, if it doesn’t work properly or becomes obsolete - you’re going to need a new one. And soon.
You’ll need to really think about whether the low up-front cost is worth the possibility of longer-term expense.
How Digital Agencies Use AI
AI tools are very commonly used by digital agencies in areas such as testing, editing and project management. But most digital agencies use it to improve workflows, rather than to create.
The limited ability of AI to create fantastic design, or robust code means using it directly makes it much more of a hindrance than a help to experienced designers and developers.
But most agencies do make use of AI tools to speed up some of the more time consuming (non-creative) elements of the job.
Common uses for AI in website design include:
Content planning and editing
You should never let AI write your content for you, but it can be great for planning out and editing content, which can speed things up remarkably.
Image editing
AI images can be really useful for a project, particularly if you know that you will struggle to get suitable images in real life - or even from a stock photography library.
Using AI can really help in those situations, but it still needs to be used carefully. The latest AI image generation tools are incredibly powerful, and much, much less likely to give people extra limbs or create weird impossibilities - but they still do need to be carefully scrutinised for anything unusual.
You also need to ensure you’re not going to be in violation of anyone’s copyright. It’s all very well creating an image “in the style of…” to create a meme to send to your friend, but it’s quite different to use it to publicise your business.
Alt tags and meta data
Another common use for AI tools is using them to create meta data and alt tags for images and video. LLMs love additional media, just like organic search - but they can’t understand them without help, so this is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy.
Creating suitable alt-tags and meta data can be an incredibly time consuming task, but with an AI tool it can be done in a fraction of the time with the right tools.
UX testing
There are several AI tools that can help identify UX issues, and these can be really useful in refining and improving user flows and experiences - particularly when you don’t have a lot of real user data to work with.
Using AI for initial UX testing can identify issues at an early stage, but it’s certainly not foolproof. You’ll still need to ensure you’re doing robust testing with real users to get accurate feedback on how people interact with your product. But AI can help with the initial heavy lifting, and point you in the right direction.
AI and coding
If you’re not a developer, and you need to code something simple and small, AI may be useful. But for any decent developer, AI isn’t really helpful when it comes to coding.
With modern frameworks such as React, developers already have shortcuts in place to prevent them having to reproduce code for large swathes of a project.
And where unique code is needed, AI isn’t sophisticated or robust enough to produce code that can be relied upon.
How to Choose Between AI and Agency Website Design
Right now, AI can provide a range of tools that can help speed up and simplify various aspects of website design and development. But it doesn’t have the creativity, sophistication or in-depth understanding to be able to replace experienced designers and developers.
So at the end of the day, it’s all about what you need and expect your website or app to do for you. Is it just a box to be ticked? Or is it a valued part of your business?
If you have a small, simple project that doesn’t really need much originality or thought - AI could save you significant time and money.
But if you need anything out of the ordinary, or are relying on your website to stand out, bring you clients, or provide a long-term solution, then AI can’t produce what you need - but humans can.
If you’d like to talk to a real human about your project, we’d love to hear from you!
