Identical to me, I am positive you have seen tons of, if not 1000’s, of AI renders of automotive designs on social media over the previous few years. Our feeds are simply clogged with this slop, and we’re not alone. Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer at Mercedes-Benz, faces the very same situation, and he is sick of it, not solely as a result of the renders he sees are uninspired, but additionally as a result of they make his job that a lot tougher.
Wagener, who has labored at Mercedes since 1997, spoke with me and a bunch of journalists on the IAA Mobility present in Munich, Germany, on a variety of subjects, however the dialog turned to synthetic intelligence design when he was requested how he units his personal designs aside from what computer systems churn out. He admitted that Mercedes has been working with AI for a number of years now on design, however the automaker hasn’t actually gotten wherever worthwhile with the expertise.
“It would not create good outcomes,” Wagener instructed us.
He did admit that it is useful for constructing backgrounds for photographs so designers needn’t create ones for themselves, however for now, that is about it.
“It creates 99% of sh– options which are actually ugly or bizarre or usually are not model particular,” the designer mentioned. “And yeah, 1% attention-grabbing stuff.
The true drawback
Wagener then turned to what he thought of to be the “actual drawback” with AI automotive renders: the thought we’re all shedding the “spectacular side” of present automobiles as a result of the web is stuffed with AI automobiles which are “over-exaggerated.”
He defined to us that it has change into tougher to create idea autos for auto reveals that really stick out and depart a long-lasting impression on folks as a result of we get so conditioned to seeing these fantastical automobiles on our social media pages — automobiles that could not presumably exist in the true world, at the same time as ideas.
“I’m going by Insta, and it is simply… one other one. You get bored, ? You simply see it,” Wagener mentioned. “This AI stuff is getting actually annoying.”
I believe issues like this, that Mercedes is leaning on its heritage a bit extra with design recently — particularly with the new grille on the electrical GLC. It is definitely distinctive with out being terribly exaggerated or outrageous. I am pretty uncertain that AI will ever really be capable of model or produce a automotive design that’s price contemplating, just because it can not — by nature — give you something unique. I believe designers know that, and that is why now we have but to see the expertise make any form of inroads in that sector of the automotive trade. I might be unsuitable, however I by no means have been earlier than.