The impact of Artificial Intelligence on strategic business decision-making in the design industry

By Sachindra’ Amarasekara

As an interior design student back in 2010, I remember the struggles vividly. Interior design was a new subject in Sri Lanka at the time; very few people understood what I was studying. When I told them I was pursuing interior design, the response was often, “So you just decorate rooms or draw floor plans?”

Eventually, I stopped trying to explain. We didn’t have proper learning resources or guidance back then—no ChatGPT, no Grok. Just us and books, a concept, and a three-hour deadline to draw it out on an A3 board for exams. Most of us took public buses, carrying that awkward plastic drawing board through jam-packed office-hour commutes. The struggle was real—sometimes, it doubled as a weapon against a few perverts on the bus. And if you tried to get off at your stop, you'd only hear curses as you squeezed your way out. But despite all of it, Experience!

We studied design history and design communication to building construction and many various subjects; watched films from across the world; heard music to ignite our minds; and presented our ideas passionately. I failed perspectives many times—drawing never turned out to be my strength—but I never gave up. In four trying years, we graduated. Out of 25 students, only a handful are still practising today—and I’m proud to be one of them. Now, working in my fourth country as an interior designer, this journey has taken me across the globe. Every project, every client, every space is a new adventure. But lately, I’ve been facing a new challenge: AI.

Many clients now come to me with AI-generated designs they’ve created themselves. Designs that look beautiful—but often ignore practical realities like ergonomics and balance. They believe what they see can be brought to life exactly as it is, and I find myself once again trying to explain what interior design truly is. It is more than aesthetics. It is about people, function, feeling, and space. That’s something no AI can fully understand.

As the world becomes increasingly algorithmic and automated, the domain of design finds itself at a crossroads—between the over-efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) and the unreplicable burst of human imagination. AI is transforming designers' modes of practice, thinking, and conceiving the future. From product design to interior design to graphic design, the strategic decisions designers make are now irrevocably entwined with the possibilities—and limitations—of AI.

One of the most striking recent examples is the Ghibli-style AI art movement, where artists and designers are using AI to generate dreamy, hand-drawn visuals inspired by the iconic works of Studio Ghibli. With just a few prompts, AI can now produce whimsical landscapes and characters reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki’s emotional worlds. On the surface, it feels magical. But underneath lies a deeper question: can AI ever truly replicate the soul of a human artist?

In product design, AI tools like generative design software help companies like Nike and BMW optimise the shape, structure, and function of their products. These systems can process hundreds of iterations in minutes, offering designers insights that would take days or weeks to discover. But AI doesn’t dream. It doesn’t understand the culture behind a sneaker or the emotional connection a driver feels with the curve of a dashboard. The reason why we can see so many stunning details in old cars till the 90s is because those were carefully designed and crafted with each line.

In interior design, platforms such as Planner 5D and Heavenly use AI to recommend layouts and decor styles based on a client’s preferences. It's efficient. It’s helpful. But it lacks the intimate understanding of how a space feels—how light changes through the day, how memories echo in the corners of a room, or how texture and warmth create comfort beyond aesthetics.

Graphic designers also are experiencing an AI revolution. Adobe Firefly or MidJourney, for instance, can generate posters, logos, and illustrations from a sentence-long description. The Ghibli-inspired artwork generated by the AI is unquestionably beautiful. But they are copies—reflections, not creations. These pieces of art are born of data, not dreams. They don't experience heartbreak. They can't capture the muted joy of a childhood memory or the pain of loss like the human hand with a brushstroke.

The role of AI in strategic decision-making for design is self-evident—it accelerates processes, delivers new ideas, and surmounts technical challenges. It cannot, however, replace the essence of design, which is in emotion, culture, history and lived experience. AI can suggest, help, and emulate—but it cannot feel.

The design future is not human versus AI. It is human and AI. The best outcomes will come from a collaboration in which AI is free to handle the technical, data-related aspects, and designers bring the soul, the empathy, the why. AI can give a thousand versions of a poster—but only a human being has a feel for which one makes someone stop, smile, or cry.

As we look ahead, the true strength of a designer will not be their ability to draw the perfect line but to ask the right question. To understand the human behind the product, the story behind the space, and the feeling behind the image.

Because in the end, AI can assist creativity—but only humans can inspire it.