AI For Interior Designers | Has Imagery Lost Its Value?

This week I worked on two concept designs. One was a commercial bar project in Reading, adapting a previously successful design to new needs and the other was a residential project transforming a primary bedroom to include a new en-suite and bespoke joinery. In both presentations, I included AI-generated imagery.

At concept stage, that would have been unheard of. Previously, anything even close to a realistic visual this early would have been avoided because nothing had been fully designed or agreed. Now, I can upload an image of the existing space and have my ideas visualised in seconds. This is the reality of AI for interior designers. But it made me stop and question it. Is this the right thing to do?

As someone who teaches the practical reality of running interior design projects through an interior design school and interior design mentoring, I know how important process is. Concept design is meant to be exactly that, a big idea. A stage where we explore, test, and narrow things down before committing to detail. It allows for creativity, originality and clear thinking.

So by introducing highly realistic imagery so early, are we changing that process? Are we lowering the value of design imagery altogether?

Interior design is increasingly being judged on how it looks in a single image. Whether it’s an Instagram post, an AI-generated render or a polished portfolio photo, the expectation has shifted from experiencing a space to viewing a perfect image. AI only accelerates this. We can now remove imperfections, adjust lighting and create flawless visuals instantly. But how much perfection is actually useful in design?

If you look back at design history, from Baroque to Modernism, each movement reacted to the one before it. Today, those shifts are happening faster than ever. Trends behave more like short-lived digital cycles. So what are we reacting to now? Speed? Accessibility? Or the fact that something which once took days or weeks can now be done in seconds?

When I started in an architecture practice in 2003, I worked on one of the last hand-drawn projects in the studio. It was slow and at the time, I preferred CAD because it was more efficient. Some designers still preferred drawing by hand and I understand why. But the reality is, practicality wins. The same shift is happening now. Why spend days building a model when you can generate a realistic, almost acurate visual in seconds? It makes sense. But with that comes a shift in value.

With AI, Pinterest and Instagram, imagery has become instant and endless. A beautiful image is no longer rare. Anyone can create one, often without any real design thinking behind it. So what are we losing, if anything?

At the same time, this opens up design to a wider audience. People who may never have worked with an interior designer can now access ideas through AI. But that also raises questions about accuracy, intellectual property and most importantly, buildability. A concept is not meant to be perfect. It’s allowed to be incomplete. Perhaps the shift is that concepts now look realistic, even when they are not.

There is also growing confusion between styling and design. A styled image can look complete, but often lacks the technical thinking, problem-solving and depth required in real projects. Interior design mentoring and interior design business mentoring are becoming more important here, because the gap between what looks good and what works is widening.

Clients are now seeing highly polished visuals at the earliest stages and expecting that outcome, without understanding the process behind it. They may not see the constraints of structure, budget, procurement or time. This creates misaligned expectations and tension within projects.

At the same time, the design process itself is becoming invisible. Designers are no longer showing the early sketches, the rough layouts, the iterations and mistakes. I recently shared what I called my “embarrassing first sketches” with my mentees, the drawings no one is meant to see. But those are the most important part of the process. That’s where ideas develop.

This also creates pressure on designers themselves. Only the polished work is shared. The imperfect, experimental stage is lost. But that stage is where real design happens.

AI is both a powerful tool and a risk. It can enhance communication and speed up workflows, but it can also bypass critical thinking. Designers risk relying on outputs instead of developing their own spatial understanding. That’s where the real danger lies. We cannot forget how to design. AI should support the process, not replace it.

Because if everyone can create a beautiful image, the difference between a trained designer and a non-designer becomes less obvious. And we’re already seeing the consequences. Projects going wrong, clients unhappy, designers taking on work they are not equipped to deliver. The issue is not the image. It’s the lack of understanding behind it.

Design implementation is one of the most complex and high-risk parts of the profession. As imagery becomes easier, the importance of knowing how to run projects properly becomes even greater. This is exactly where an interior design mentor, an online interior design school, or structured interior design business mentoring becomes essential. Not to teach you how to make things look good, but to teach you how to think, design and deliver projects properly.

That’s what we do inside IntoDesign. We work through real projects from start to finish so you can understand the full process. Not just the image at the end, but everything that goes into creating it. Because now, more than ever, that’s where the real value lies.

Jo Chrobak