Figma Disables Its AI Design Feature After Accusations of Copying Apple’s Weather App
Figma’s Make Design Feature Temporarily Disabled Due to Concerns Over AI-Generated Designs
In a recent development, Figma CEO Dylan Field has announced that the company will temporarily disable its ‘Make Design’ AI feature due to concerns over its ability to generate designs that are too similar to existing apps. The issue was first spotted by Andy Allen, the founder of NotBoring Software, which makes a suite of apps that includes a popular skinnable Weather app and other utilities.
The Issue with Figma’s Make Design Feature
The Make Design feature is available within Figma’s software and uses AI to generate UI (user interface) layouts and components from text prompts. The idea was that developers could use the feature to help get their ideas down quickly, allowing them to begin exploring different design directions and arrive at a solution faster.
However, Allen found that when using the Make Design feature, it would repeatedly reproduce Apple’s Weather app. This raised concerns among the design community about the potential for Figma’s AI tools to ‘rip off’ the designs of other apps.
Accusations of Heavily Training on Existing Apps
Allen had taken to X (formerly Twitter) to accuse Figma of ‘heavily training its tool on existing apps.’ This accusation was met with a response from Field, who denied that Figma’s AI tools were trained on Figma content, community files or app designs.
Figma’s Response and Temporary Disablement of the Make Design Feature
Field acknowledged that there was an issue with the underlying design systems used by the Make Design feature. He stated that within hours of seeing Allen’s tweet, the team had identified the problem and were working to resolve it.
In a subsequent tweet, Field announced that Figma would temporarily disable the Make Design feature until they are confident in its ability to generate unique designs. The feature will be disabled for several days while the company completes a full QA pass on the underlying design system.
The Debate Over AI-Generated Designs
The introduction of AI-generated designs has sparked a debate among designers and developers about the potential impact on the industry. Some argue that AI tools like Figma’s Make Design feature will wipe out jobs by bringing digital design to the mass market. Others counter that AI will simply help to eliminate repetitive work in design, allowing more interesting ideas to emerge.
The Future of AI-Generated Designs
As AI technology continues to advance, it is likely that we will see more companies integrating AI-generated designs into their products and services. However, this raises important questions about the potential impact on the design industry and the need for quality assurance work to accompany new additions.
The temporary disablement of Figma’s Make Design feature highlights the importance of ensuring that AI-generated designs are not simply copying existing designs. As companies continue to integrate AI technology into their products, it is essential that they prioritize quality and uniqueness in their design outputs.
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