'AI Is Both Incredible and Terrifying'; A Conversation with Neil Leach
Neil Leach is a British professor and licensed architect currently based in California. He has worked for NASA developing a 3D printer for the Moon and Mars, and is co-founder of DigitalFUTURES. Having authored over 40 books on architecture and digital design, and taught at some of the world's leading architecture schools, including the AA, Harvard, SCI-Arc, and Columbia, his in-depth understanding of architecture's professional and academic landscapes allows him to speculate how artificial intelligence will impact the future of design.
For Leach, conversations limited to popular AI tools such as Midjourney and ChatGPT detract from a broader reckoning that the architecture profession must have in the face of ever-more-capable AI models and platforms. This AI-induced reckoning includes, though is not limited to, the supply and demand of architectural labor, liabilities, and insurance, and the future of all pillars of the architectural community, be it practice, academia, or licensure.
In June 2023, one year after the publication of Leach's book Architecture in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: An Introduction to AI for Architects, Archinect's Niall Patrick Walsh spoke with the author and theorist for a wide-ranging discussion on the topic. The conversation, edited slightly for clarity, is published below.
