Who is asking? (I think)

I imagine whoever asked this question is someone aspiring to become a web designer, or perhaps someone with a stake in the industry who wants to see the current trends in web design. It could also be a business owner or agency boss looking to cut costs by delegating web design to a graphic designer or even doing it themselves.

My answer

As someone who has been designing websites as my main source of income for around three years—even before AI became popular—I would answer, “No, web design will not be replaced by AI, at least not by the time I answer this question in May 2025.”

Reasons behind my answer and some thoughts

The reason for my answer is that designing a website isn’t just about making it look good. It also needs to be functional and align with the client’s business goals. The design must be ready for development and maintain consistency across different pages and screen sizes. (You can search for “responsive web design” on Google for more information; I’ll write about this topic soon and link it back to this post.)

There is also a need for animations and micro-interactions, which are difficult to replicate or visualize using AI image generation. The design also needs to adapt to scalability based on the client’s needs. For example:

• What if they want to change an image collage into a carousel?
• What if their text content is longer than expected?
• What if they later want blog functionality, additional fields in the contact form, or e-commerce for their website?

Especially for large-scale websites with many pages and subpages, there will be a need for a design system and user flow to ensure nothing is missing and to accommodate future updates and new team members joining the projects.

I would say that if you are planning to build a website for business or professional purposes, it’s essential to have a web designer with a general understanding of web development to accompany you along the way, at least at the consultation level.

Can You Design a Website by Yourself with Just the Help of AI?

Am I saying all this to mean you can’t design a website by yourself? No—I’m a firm believer that you can do anything by yourself as long as you put in the time, effort, and dedication to achieve your goals. For most business owners, individuals, or even web designers taking on simple projects—like a brochure website or a static landing page to showcase an event, work, services, or products—you can definitely get away with using a template from website builders like Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify.

These platforms are also implementing AI in their services, which their users can definitely take advantage of. For example:

• I’ve heard that Framer AI and Webflow AI can help with translation, copy, or even section generation directly in their builders.
• Relume AI can help generate sitemaps and wireframes using prompts.

I highly suggest trying them out to get a better idea of what you want or to brainstorm ideas for your website projects. I’m looking forward to seeing AI grow in the web design space and the web development industry. Personally, I have already incorporated AI into generating mockup content for my client projects and brainstorming ideas at the beginning of the design stages.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while existing AI can assist with things like basic layouts or brainstorming ideas, it can’t fully take over web design from human web designers.

Web design also needs a personal touch—understanding what people want, solving clients’ problems, and making something special for each project and business—which AI isn’t ready to do (yet).

So, if you are an aspiring web designer, please proudly pursue your career in the industry. If you are a manager looking to replace your existing web designer with AI, maybe have second thoughts. And if you are looking for a human web designer to help with your project, please feel free to take a look at my portfolio and learn more about my web design process at binhnguyen.me.