We live in a golden age of artificial intelligence. It’s a time when you can spin up landing pages, chatbots, or even entire websites with nothing more than a prompt and a dream.
But let’s be real: Just because AI can do something doesn’t mean it should. Not yet, at least.
Here at Webspec, our web developers see AI as a valuable partner as the technology continues to improve its ability to write code and do other tasks related to designing and structuring sites. But it still has its weak points, and turning it loose on a web design project when you shouldn’t can cause some costly mistakes.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a few guidelines for when it’s safe to invite AI to the party and when it’s better to roll up your sleeves and do it the old fashioned way.
The bottom line: AI is very useful at putting together the rough bones of a project. But it’s less effective at creating a polished final product. That’s when you’ll need a more human touch. And you should always double check its work no matter what.
When To Use AI in Web Design: Building Templates, Creating Prototypes & Improving Accessibility
AI can be a huge timesaver during the website development process if you use it correctly. Here are some of the situations where it truly shines.
Scaffolding Functional Components
Need to spin up a blog template, build a gallery component, or create a quick wireframe? AI is a wizard at cranking out solid starting points, especially if you know how to steer it.
If you’re new to wielding AI, though, don’t be surprised if your results are mixed. It can be completely wrong at times, so make sure you’re walking through the process one step at a time.
Think of it as an over-caffeinated junior developer who’s fast but doesn’t always follow the best coding practices — or laws of physics.
Prototyping Ideas at Warp Speed
AI is a fantastic thought partner when you want to try out five ways to build a website feature or generate ten different page layouts before you commit to one. It’s the digital equivalent of scribbling on a whiteboard.
Making a Minimum Viable Product
Need to test an idea fast? AI can help you create a minimum viable product without writing every line of code from scratch. It can even help generate the copy, the user interface, and a little backend logic — just enough to see if the thing is worth pursuing in the first place. It’s the proverbial duct tape for startups: Get it functional, not perfect.
Improving Website Accessibility
From generating alt text to checking color contrast or even suggesting ARIA roles and building focus traps, AI can help make your website more inclusive. That isn’t just good development practice, it’s good for business too. Want to learn more about building an accessible website? Check out our beginner’s guide.
When Not To Use AI for Web Design: Critical Components & Final Products
While AI is great for many tasks, there are also many where you shouldn’t trust it. Generally, these are tasks where accuracy is extremely important or where you need a human touch to ensure it’s working properly. In short, don’t use AI for anything that would get you fired if it goes wrong. Here’s a look at some of those situations.
Sweeping Changes on Big Codebases
AI doesn’t have the memory (yet) to hold your entire legacy codebase in its head. AI’s context windows are finite, and once you’re juggling 15 modules, 32 conditions, and that one weird legacy function that nobody touches anymore, things can get out of hand in a hurry! Asking AI to refactor everything is like asking a squirrel to do your taxes; some things just aren’t in the cards… yet.
Instead, use AI to help with smaller, bite-sized changes first. Or you can start by having it help you build out a more robust test suite.
Mission-Critical Components
If a failure means unacceptable downtime, lost revenue, broken compliance, or an angry customer calling you at 2 a.m., don’t let AI write that code — at least not exclusively. Use it to help you get there, much like a copilot. But you need a practiced driver at the wheel for the best results. Especially for the parts that really count.
The Final Product
AI is great at getting you most of the way there. But that last 10%? That’s where we still need a human to finish the race. Don’t let AI ship your final build without an experienced developer doing a sanity check and a good once-over to ensure the results are logical.
Being Careful With AI Is Important. That’s Why You Need Web Design Experts You Can Trust.
If you’re not an experienced developer, you might not know when AI is quietly setting fire to your best-laid plans. It will do what you ask — even if that means assembling something structurally unsound, insecure, or just plain weird. AI doesn’t know what’s best for your business. But you do.
Having said all of that, the gap is closing fast. Within the next year or two, AI might well be capable of building entire sites safely, scalably, and securely with little to no oversight after just a few short sentences of a prompt. Until then? Keep the coffee on the burner for your favorite trusty developer. Have questions about using AI, or the best way to design your website? Contact our team of web design experts today. Want to learn more about how the big AI tools stack up? Read our head-to-head-to-head comparison of ChatGPT, Gemini, and Grok.
