Web development has undergone numerous transformations in the past decade. During the first phase of its development, it was enough to know HTML to make a website. Today, it is quite different. Some of the most popular websites out there run on PHP, jQuery, JavaScript, Python etc.
Since creating one requires practice, knowledge and skill, some companies have come up with website builder solutions that allow users with no technical knowledge to create and publish websites. This saves a lot of money for companies, who in the past had to spend a lot of it on professional website designers.
The companies that stand behind popular website builders have decided to make the entire website creation process even smoother and easier by introducing an artificial intelligence component.
AI Website Builders Already Exist
In the sea of website builders, the ones with the simplest and the most intuitive interface have emerged as popular options. The drag and drop solutions integrated into these builders proved to be very attractive for people with no previous technical knowledge. This allows practically anyone to build a website from scratch and to start growing an online presence. Some of the most popular are Squarespace, Weebly, Wix, Jimdo etc.
By updating their platforms with Artificial Intelligence, some of these companies are aiming to make the entire process even easier. Grid, Wix and Firedrop are some of the leading brands when it comes to using AI in their website building process. They say that websites built by an AI outperform other websites.
For instance, the Wix ADI (artificial design intelligence) algorithm is capable of creating stunning and unique websites in just a couple of minutes. The developers behind it say that they want to set a new standard in web design.
Firedrop makes things even more interesting by introducing Sacha – an AI web designer. Sacha acts like a chat bot and personal web developer assistant. This AI is able to guide you through the entire web building process with no drag and drop toolbars and menu systems.
Through the chat window, you get to choose colours for each website section and to review results in real time. This chat is mobile ready so that users can use AI to create websites on the go.
[easy-tweet tweet=”The AI algorithm has access to a number of website layouts, designs, content and navigations options” hashtags=”AI, Website”]
So How Exactly AI Website Builders Work?
While the process of gathering data from a user may differ from AI to AI, under the hood, these AI algorithms basically do similar things. After gathering user information by asking simple questions about user needs and goals, the AI starts to build a website. Basing its decisions entirely on these answers, it is able to create a unique and completely customised website.
The AI algorithm has access to a number of website layouts, designs, content and navigations options. Basing decisions on user’s needs and goals, and what it has previously learned about you, the AI chooses the best possible combination, creating a unique website from scratch. It is also capable of creating more robust websites. The website that you get as a result can be further customised, but that is something that you will have to do.
Traditional vs AI Website Builders
In order to compare these two, let’s see their performance when it comes to cost, design and coding and time efficiency.
[easy-tweet tweet=”When it comes to time efficiency, there is nothing that could beat an AI website builder” hashtags=”AI, Website”]
Cost efficiency is what interest most people, and this is where an AI website builder really shines. You can get your website created, up and be running at a minimal price by using this option. It is a much more affordable solution than pricey teams of professional web designers.
When it comes to time efficiency, there is nothing that could beat an AI website builder. It outperforms even the most experienced professionals in the field. It is just another tool that brings website building closer to being a completely automated process.
However, the design and coding efficiency trophy still go to the humans. It seems that AI website builders can’t produce code as well as a professional programmer. It writes code with no regard to semantic markup, which is important to structure data and reinforce its inherent meaning.
The same goes for designing. The AI is not really designing your website, instead, it picks up a design from the design options in the database. This means that human designers have to feed the AI with style rules that it will apply correctly to any content.
Conclusion
AI website builders are already available on the market. From the data we have in our hands at this moment, we can conclude that this solution is great for small businesses and individuals who want simple portfolio websites and personal blogs for a fairly low price.
On the other hand, more complicated projects requiring design and code that will compliment a branding strategy will still be managed by teams of non-robot professionals. We can safely assume that professional coders and web designers will not be replaced by AI, at least not anytime soon.
Peter Vukcevic is a web developer at FirstSiteGuide where he focuses on assisting web newcomers to establish their online presence and successful content marketing on a crowded web. He’s a passionate basketball fan and a book junkie. The best of him is yet to come, so don’t be afraid to see what he is up to on Twitter.