Is Drawing Dead? Creativity in the Age of AI

Is AI Replacing Creativity?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing a familiar question:
Will AI replace creativity in architecture?

This concern often arises when discussing diffusion models—those generative tools that turn text prompts into architectural imagery. For some, it feels like a challenge to a foundational principle of architectural design: that ideas are developed through drawing.

It’s a valid concern. Drawing has been central to architecture for centuries. It's how we explore, refine, and communicate. But it’s worth asking:
Is drawing the definition of creativity—or just one of many tools we’ve used to express it?

Tools Change, Creativity Endures

While AI-generated imagery may shift the role of traditional drawing, it doesn’t erase the creative process. Creativity isn’t tied to a medium—it’s about exploration, iteration, and making connections between ideas.

Some architects are naturally gifted at drawing, and for many, that’s part of what brought them into the field. But not all creative thinkers are skilled sketchers. And that shouldn’t disqualify them from contributing to the built environment.

In fact, tools like diffusion models can serve as creative amplifiers—especially for those who’ve had ideas to express but lacked a traditional outlet to communicate them visually.

Fifth Graders, Diffusion Models, and the Power of Description

One story that stuck with me came shortly after we released an early diffusion model system to our team in early 2024. A designer at our firm used the tool in a workshop with a group of fifth graders, asking them to describe the kinds of spaces they’d like to experience.

In a matter of hours, those kids—some just 10 or 11 years old—produced fascinating, expressive renderings. They didn’t use pencils or paper. They used words.

And yet, the outcome was undeniably creative.

AI as an Augmenter, Not a Replacer

This is a pattern we’ve seen again and again in the history of design tools. New technologies rarely replace creativity outright—they augment it. They lower the barrier to entry. They change who gets to participate.

Most shifts don’t arrive with dramatic declarations. They unfold through subtle changes: workflows evolve, conversations shift, teams collaborate differently. Drawing won’t disappear, but its role might shift as it sits alongside a growing set of tools—tools that expand, rather than narrow, our creative reach.

The Real Opportunity

Architecture has always evolved with its tools—from ink on vellum to BIM. Diffusion models are part of that lineage. And like any tool, their value depends on how we use them.

If we treat AI as a partner in the creative process—not a replacement—we can make space for more voices, more exploration, and ultimately, better design.

The challenge isn’t whether AI will replace creativity.
It’s whether we’re willing to let creativity take new forms