How AI Powers Our Website Creation Process

The rise of AI is in the midst of transforming various industries, and web development is no different.

As AI tools continue to advance, common questions emerge:

• Is AI taking over web development?
• Will it replace web developers and designers?

In this article, we’ll dive into the strengths and limitations of AI in web creation and explore how we harness this technology for its most effective use cases.

Where AI Shines

AI has proven to be a valuable tool for many aspects of website creation, particularly in prompt-based text and image generation tasks.

Prompt to Text

AI-driven chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude have become increasingly common in our daily work sessions.

Here are some key ways we leverage AI:

• Inspiration Sessions: AI has become an integral component to any brainstorming session as it is exceptional at suggesting themes, concepts, and ideas to kickstart the creative process.
• Web Page/Site Layout Ideation: While AI struggles with generating full visual layouts (more on that later), it can still offer valuable text-based suggestions for structuring a website.
• Copywriting Assistance: AI excels at editing and refining copy to make it more engaging, polished, and on-brand.
• Code Generation: Although we strive to remain no-code, some custom JavaScript is often required. Tools like GitHub Co-Pilot and ChatGPT have proven to be exceptionally powerful for code integration.

Prompt to Image

In addition to text, AI is an essential tool for generating media content.

While video is growing in popularity, images remain the most widely used form of media.

Generative AI tools like DALL-E and Midjourney can convert natural language prompts into images.

Here’s where they shine:

• Replacing Stock Image Services: Need an abstract illustration or lifelike photography? AI can generate images from scratch, reducing or eliminating the reliance on stock services like Shutterstock or Adobe Stock. The example below was generated by Midjourney.

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• Professional Headshots: Finding the right photographer can be time-consuming and expensive. AI-generated headshots can offer outstanding results, tailored to fit various use cases. Below is an output generated by Aragon.ai, which used my own profile pictures as input.

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These strengths make AI a valuable tool for enhancing creativity and efficiency in web development, but there are still significant limitations.

Where AI Still Struggles

While AI is a powerful assistant, it’s far from a perfect solution.

Here are some key areas where AI still struggles:

Web Design Layout Generation

Although AI can suggest layout structures in text form, it falters when attempting to visually render coherent design layouts.

Issues with spacing, hierarchy, and alignment often lead to chaotic results.

While useful for brainstorming and inspiration, the output cannot be solely relied upon as a foolproof design.

Take the following Midjourney prompt and it's subsequent output.

While there is a lot to like, it's not quite a turnkey design.

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web design screenshot for a nature brand, hiking imagery, realistic

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Logo and Unique Graphic Creation

AI frequently misses the mark when tasked with creating logos or highly specialized graphics that align with a brand’s identity.

The results often lack the preciseness and relevance required for professional branding.

Take the following prompt for example, which produces an output which is unusable.

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logo design combining letter “H” “G”, simplistic, white background

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Prompt to Video

AI-generated video is an exciting frontier, but it's still in its early stages.

Tools like Sora are making fast progress, yet much of the technology is either not fully developed for professional use or isn't publicly accessible.

As of this post, video creation remains a manual or semi-automated process.

AI’s contribution in this space will likely grow quickly, but it’s not yet ready for consistent, high-quality outputs.

Prompt to Website Generation

Several AI tools claim to generate complete websites from a simple prompt, but the results are still far from stand alone.

After extensive testing, I’ve found that using pre-built templates—like those available in Webflow—is a much more efficient and reliable way to quickly create polished websites.

While some web builders have started integrating AI features into their editors (such as text improvements or layout suggestions), these enhancements can just as easily be achieved using any AI chatbot of your choice, without the need for specialized tools.

AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement

The bottom line?

AI is a powerful ally in the website creation process, but it still requires a skilled human driver.

A web developer or designer who knows what they want and can guide AI with the right prompts will get the best results.

While it’s impossible to predict the future, for now, AI complements rather than replaces the expertise of a website creator.

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