My Checklist: When to Trust AI Visualization, and When Not To

As the founder of formspace.design and someone who has worked in landscape design for half my life, I constantly face the question: how much can one trust what artificial intelligence generates? My answer is simple: AI visualization is a powerful tool for starting and inspiration, but it requires critical thinking and verification by the human eye. It can instantly create dozens of concepts that would take a designer weeks to do manually. But the final implementation always remains with a human, who considers hundreds of nuances invisible to the algorithm.

My Journey to AI: From Blueprint to Algorithm

My experience in landscape design began long before the AI era, when the only tools were a pencil, paper, and a tape measure. I remember how we manually drew every bush, every path, and then moved on to AutoCAD, Revit, and 3ds Max to achieve a more realistic picture. These were years of painstaking work, where each visualization required significant time and financial investment. The "artist's eye," which I developed from a young age through painting, always helped me see beauty and harmony, but technical implementation was often slow.

When AI entered my life, first as an assistant in coding, and then as a visualization tool at formspace.design, I saw its enormous potential. AI can instantly suggest options you hadn't even considered, expanding the boundaries of creativity. However, I quickly realized that this tool is not a panacea, but rather a very fast and talented, yet sometimes naive intern who needs constant guidance and supervision.

When AI Visualization Is Truly Useful

Artificial intelligence performs best at the initial stages of design, when many ideas and concepts need to be generated quickly. Here are a few scenarios where I always trust AI:

1. Quick Brainstorming: When a client says, “I want something modern, but with elements of Provence,” AI can generate dozens of options in a matter of minutes, which will serve as a starting point for discussion. This saves hours of a designer's work, who would otherwise draw sketches manually.
2. Visualization of Different Styles: If you are torn between a Japanese garden and a Mediterranean courtyard, AI can quickly show you how each would look on your plot. This helps avoid spending resources on detailed development of unsuitable options.
3. Assessing Plot Potential: Want to understand how a 600 square meter plot with a slight slope would look if it included a swimming pool, a BBQ area, and a small vegetable garden? AI quickly shows the general plan, allowing you to assess zoning and proportions. This is especially important for small plots, where every square meter (~10 sq m) counts.
4. Material Comparison: AI can show how the same landscape design would look with different types of paving, plants, or colors. This helps the client make a decision without spending money on samples or actual plantings. You can read more about how I tested material selection with AI in the article AI and materials: testing paving and texture selection.

Limitations and Pitfalls

Despite all its advantages, AI visualization has its limitations, which are important to remember. It does not replace deep expertise and knowledge of the realities of construction and plant care.

• Realism vs. Fantasy: AI often generates idealized pictures that may be impractical in real life. For example, it might draw plants that won't survive in your climate, or a pond without considering the plot's slope and drainage system. I've seen AI suggest narrow paths 60 cm wide, which are unsuitable for two people to walk comfortably or for using garden equipment.
• Lack of Technical Detail: AI visualization rarely includes utility lines, irrigation systems, lighting, drainage, or precise structural dimensions. It's just a beautiful picture, behind which lies a complex technical project.
• Scale and Proportions: Sometimes AI can distort scale, making objects too large or too small relative to their surroundings. For example, a gazebo that looks cozy in a picture might turn out to be too bulky for a 1000 square meter plot in reality.
• Legal and Regulatory Restrictions: AI does not know local building codes, fence height restrictions, setbacks from property lines, or fire safety requirements. These aspects always require human verification.

Checklist: How to Verify AI Results

To use AI most effectively and avoid pitfalls, I've developed a small checklist for myself. I recommend it to you too:

1. Climate and Soil Suitability: Are all the plants suggested by AI suitable for your climate zone and soil type? Check their frost resistance, moisture, and sunlight requirements.
2. Functionality and Ergonomics: Are the paths wide enough (minimum 1.2 meters for the main path), are the seating areas comfortable, is there logic in the arrangement of elements? Imagine yourself on this plot and mentally walk through it.
3. Engineering Systems: Is there space for drainage, irrigation, automatic watering systems, lighting? These elements are not always visible in AI visualization, but without them, the project will not be complete.
4. Budget: How realistic is the proposed concept in terms of your budget? Sometimes AI generates very expensive solutions requiring significant investment in materials or rare plants.
5. Terrain Reality: Has the actual terrain of the plot been taken into account? If you have elevation changes, AI does not always display them correctly, which can lead to problems with terracing or water drainage.
6. Aesthetics and Personal Preferences: Do you like the overall style? Does it match your tastes and lifestyle? AI is a tool, not a dictator of taste.

What AI Lacks: The Human Factor and Context

The most important thing artificial intelligence lacks is an understanding of human context. It cannot conduct a deep interview with a client, understand their dreams, fears, lifestyle, family composition, or future plans. It doesn't know that you have a dog that loves to dig holes, or that your children love to play soccer on the lawn. These nuances are critically important for creating a truly vibrant and functional landscape.

Landscape design is not just a picture; it's the creation of an environment for life. It's understanding how the space will be used, how it will change over time, how it will interact with the house and the surrounding world. It's knowing local suppliers, the specifics of plant care in a particular region, and the ability to adapt a project to unexpected circumstances, such as changes in groundwater levels or the appearance of new neighbors. You can learn more about how I integrate AI into my daily work in the article My workday: where AI fits in, and where only personal experience.

Common Mistakes When Working with AI Visualization

Over the years of working with AI, I've noticed several common mistakes users make when blindly trusting it:

• Too much detail at the start: Trying to get a perfect picture with all the small details right away. AI works best from general to specific. Start with zoning and the overall concept, then detail.
• Ignoring initial data: Uploading low-quality photos or lacking a clear description of the plot (size, terrain, existing buildings) leads to irrelevant results. It's like trying to build a house without blueprints.
• Blind copying: Applying an AI concept without adapting it to real conditions. For example, attempting to implement a Japanese garden in a swampy area without soil preparation and drainage will lead to failure.
• Lack of iterations: Expecting AI to deliver the perfect option on the first try. Effective work with AI is an iterative process: generation, analysis, prompt correction, regeneration.
• Underestimating costs: Forgetting that a beautiful picture doesn't always mean low implementation costs. AI is not an expert in pricing, and its suggestions can be very expensive to execute.

How to Plan in formspace.design

At formspace.design, I aimed to create a tool that would most effectively combine the power of AI with the need for human control and expertise. My personal experience and the pain of not having such a tool in the past formed the basis of its development. You can start planning from scratch or use an existing photo of your plot.

For example, you upload a photo of your plot to the 3.1 Design by Photo module. Then, using the 2.1 AI Concept module, you can specify the desired style, functional zones (e.g., BBQ area, playground, rock garden) and get several visualization options. AI will quickly suggest general ideas for element placement, color schemes, and approximate shapes. After this, you move to the 1.x Plan/Zones/Objects modules, where you manually, or with the help of AI-suggested elements, refine the details. You can precisely place plants from our library, choose paving materials, set the dimensions of paths, gazebos, and ponds. Here you can check how well the AI-suggested solutions match reality, your dimensions (e.g., a 15 by 40-meter plot), and your budget. Thus, AI gives you a boost of ideas, and you, as a designer or plot owner, perfect them, considering all practical aspects.

FAQ

• Can AI fully handle landscape design?

  No, AI cannot fully handle landscape design yet. AI excels at generating ideas and visualizations, but it lacks an understanding of technical details, local conditions, budget, and individual client needs. It cannot account for all engineering nuances and legal requirements that are the foundation of any real project.

• What data should be provided to AI to get good results?

  To get the best results, AI needs to be provided with as much information as possible: high-quality photos of the plot, its plan with dimensions and orientation to cardinal directions, data on terrain, soil type, and climate zone. It's also important to clearly articulate your wishes regarding style, functional zones, and preferences for plants and materials. The more precise the prompt, the more relevant the result.

• Will AI replace landscape designers?

  I believe that AI will not replace landscape designers, but will become a powerful tool in their hands. A designer who knows how to work with AI will be much more productive and able to offer clients more options in less time. Human experience, creativity, the ability to communicate with clients, and solve non-standard tasks will remain key skills that AI cannot yet replicate.

• What are the most common AI errors in landscape design?

  The most common AI errors include generating unrealistic plants for a given climate zone, ignoring the plot's terrain, creating non-functional or too narrow passages, and suggesting expensive solutions without considering the budget. Often, AI also fails to account for utility lines and precise dimensions, requiring human refinement.

• Can AI be used for designing very small or very large plots?

  Yes, AI is equally useful for plots of any size, but with caveats. For small plots (e.g., 200-400 sq m), it will help maximize the effective use of every square meter. For large ones (2000 sq m and more), it can quickly divide the space into functional zones and create an overall concept, which would take a very long time manually. In both cases, human refinement and verification are required.

• How often should prompts be adjusted when working with AI visualization?

  Prompts should be adjusted as many times as necessary to achieve the desired result. It's an iterative process. Start with general requests, then gradually add details, refine the style, colors, and materials. Each new prompt is a step towards a more accurate and relevant image. The ability to formulate effective prompts is a separate skill, which I wrote about in the article How to quickly learn to formulate prompts: 50% method for beginners.

• What aspects can AI not evaluate in landscape design?

  AI cannot evaluate the emotional perception of space, the scents of plants, the tactile sensations of materials, or the dynamics of how a garden changes across seasons and years. It is unable to understand the owner's personal history, their memories, and dreams, which often shape the unique character of a garden. All these subtle, intangible aspects remain the prerogative of the human designer.

A Look into the Future: The Symbiosis of Human and AI

For me, AI in landscape design is not a competitor, but a partner. It frees us from routine, provides new ideas, and speeds up the process. But the final decision, the finishing touch, and a deep understanding of the context always remain with a human. My goal at formspace.design is to create a tool that allows every plot owner or designer to maximize this symbiosis, turning dreams into reality. Don't be afraid to experiment, but always apply critical thinking. Only then can we create truly beautiful and functional spaces.