Architecture and design firms are grappling with the reality that certain areas of their profession will one day be obsolete as the acceleration of artificial intelligence positions the industry for radical change.

As with any innovation, artificial intelligence is a disrupter. But it also creates an opportunity to lean into services that computers can’t replace, A&D experts in the Dallas-Fort Worth market said at a Bisnow event held at The Statler Hotel.

The industry has over the years abdicated much of its responsibility and agency to other groups. The introduction of AI could be a chance to take some of that power back, HKS CEO Dan Noble said.

“When you think back in history, master builders in architecture were responsible for a lot more than we are,” he said. “What I’d like to see is letting [AI] handle the more rudimentary, commoditized, mundane aspects of what we do so that we can concentrate on upstream and downstream services with our client and really amp up our value proposition.”

AI is already being used to generate design options and create digital models. Looking beyond the pre-construction process and figuring out how architects can be involved in the long-term usage and management of a building could provide an element of longevity.

“It’s interesting that we place such a huge amount of capital investment in people designing these projects, and then they’re built and occupied, and we’re off to the next thing,” VLK Architects CEO Sloan Harris said. “The future is going to demand us to change that if this profession is going to continue to thrive.”

A critical piece of the design process is thinking beyond the four walls of a building about how a structure interacts with its environment, GFF CEO and Chairman Evan Beattie said.

AI has not mastered that capability, though that may not always be the case. Already, AI algorithms are being used to optimize traffic flow, predict and prevent crime or manage waste disposal.

“It’s depth of understanding isn’t there to deal with context-sensitive design like we want it to be at this moment,” he said. “It’s really interesting to think about where it’s going and what it might be able to do in the near and far future.”

The incorporation of AI into design is moving ahead full speed, but other areas are less threatened by its emergence.

Using AI to conceive of a building is much simpler than using it to create the products that make the structure come to life, said Christopher Lyon, president of Tournesol Siteworks, a company that manufactures lightweights pots, planters and site furnishings.

“While AI is top of mind in the design community, it’s going to be a long time before they figure out how to make computers that will actually produce goods and manufacture stuff that needs to go on to projects across the country,” he said.

The human brain will always play an indispensable role in architecture and design, but there is no turning back the clock on AI, Noble said. Firms that wish to succeed in the future have little choice but to embrace it.

“Do you want to be a victim of the future or the author of the future?” Noble asked. “If it’s the latter, you’ll be on top.”