Perceptions of Students Towards the Inclusion of AI in Design Studio Learning: Architecture and Interior Design
Abstract
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly influencing architecture and interior design practice, yet its educational value depends on how it is integrated into studio learning. This study explores how architecture and interior design students experience and evaluate GenAI in relation to creative ideation, visualisation, learning processes, and responsible educational use. An exploratory qualitative design was employed with 30 upper-level students at the University of Technology Sarawak, Malaysia, comprising 20 Architecture and 10 Interior Design students. Participants used PromeAI to generate alternatives from perspectives of their previously completed studio projects and subsequently compared the AI-generated outputs with their original designs. Data were collected through six semi-structured focus groups and analysed using thematic analysis. Five interrelated themes emerged. Students perceived GenAI as valuable for expanding design possibilities, overcoming creative blocks, accelerating visualisation, and facilitating rapid comparison of alternatives. However, they also identified limitations involving prompt interpretation, spatial and functional logic, constructability, contextual understanding, and design control. Participants further cautioned that excessive reliance on GenAI could bypass research, conceptual reasoning, iteration, and independent creative development. Overall, students supported structured rather than unrestricted integration, with lecturers providing guidance and human judgement retaining authority over technical evaluation and final design decisions. The findings reveal an AI Design Studio Paradox: acceleration can enhance learning when it supports exploration but undermine learning when it substitutes for cognitively important design processes. The study therefore positions GenAI as a complementary, rather than substitutive, resource for responsible design studio education.