Rise of artificial intelligence means architects are "doomed" says Sebastian Errazuriz
Ninety per cent of architects will lose their jobs as artificial intelligence takes over the design process, according to designer Sebastian Errazuriz.
The New York-based designer made the controversial claim in a series of movies posted on his Instagram account.
"I think it's important that architects are warned as soon as possible that 90 per cent of their jobs are at risk," he said.
"It's almost impossible for you to compete" with algorithms he said, adding: "The thing is you're not that special."
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Born in Chile and raised in London, the artist and designer has courted controversy before, most recently by proposing to turn the fire-damaged Notre Dame cathedral in Paris into a rocket launchpad.
In his latest provocation, he has predicted the demise of the architecture profession at the hands of artificial intelligence.
In one Instagram post, Errazuriz posted an animation of a parametric tool developed by Wallgren Arkitekter and BOX Bygg that can generate plans automatically.
"This is today," Errazuriz wrote. "Now try to imagine what 1,000 times this tech and 10 years will do to the industry."
Machine learning will soon allow software applications to synthesize vast amounts of architectural knowledge in seconds, he predicted. Architects by contrast take years acquiring the skills and experience needed to design buildings, leaving them unable to compete.
Errazuriz predicted that clients would soon be able to tell an app what kind of building they want, describe the budget, location, size and other preferences and get a range of options in seconds.
Soon a client would be able to "move the distribution around, see it in augmented reality, check how my furniture will fit inside and approve the one that fits within my budget," he said. The app would then recommend a local contractor to build the project.
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Only a very few architects will survive, he predicted. "Architecture as an artistic practice is the only one that will survive and it will be developed by a tiny elite. We're talking five per cent, one per cent of architects max. The rest, they're done, they're doomed, they're gone. Finito. This is the end. Muerte."
He advised architects to instead become software developers.
"Go into tech," he said. "Understand that those same spatial capabilities can be used in more abstract ways to be able to coordinate giant systems and develop the systems of tomorrow, working with other types of engineers. Not the ones who will pour cement, but ones that will write code. Please make the switch now. Don't lose your job."
Other provocations by Errazuriz include his 2017 project that vandalised augmented-reality artworks by Jeff Koons, and a range of shoes designed for a dozen of his former lovers.