With AI now firmly here and no longer just on its way, Joe Hurles at Tec Lifestyle thinks retailers need to start seeing the technology as a sidekick instead of simply fearing it’s a replacement for good design.
Over the last year, I’ve noticed more clients arriving at the showroom with bathroom concepts created using ChatGPT and Gemini.
Just recently, a client showed me a vanity she’d found online and loved, but within seconds it was obvious it had been AI-generated: there were two basins but only one mixer tap, mismatched handles and proportions that simply wouldn’t work in reality.
Rather than dismissing it outright, we used it as inspiration. I hand-sketched a bespoke vanity unit which will now be manufactured by Bard & Blackwood specifically for her home.
Where AI becomes particularly exciting is when we stop seeing it as a replacement for designers and start seeing it as something more like a sidekick.
The bathroom industry is full of repetitive tasks. Quoting is a perfect example. Virtual Worlds already has functionality that can communicate with quoting software, so imagine an AI assistant listening during a consultation, and building the quotation while the designer concentrates on the client.
It could prepare schedules, check specifications and act as a safety net, warning that a basin waste is missing or that a 3D design appears to have insufficient tiles.
Human interaction
My biggest concern is that too many companies will see AI primarily as a cost-cutting exercise. The first question will be, “How many people can we replace?” I think businesses should ask, “What could we achieve if our people had more time?”
If AI removes hours of mundane administration, why should the goal be fewer designers? Why not use that time to see more clients, spend longer with existing ones, try more creative designs, generate leads, explore new revenue streams and build stronger relationships?
I think businesses can become too focused on saving money rather than finding creative ways to generate more of it. AI could do both, but I believe the biggest opportunity is on the revenue side.
We’ve already seen what happens when businesses prioritise efficiency over human interaction. Self-service checkouts are convenient, but something important gets lost: personal interaction. Cars can now be purchased almost entirely online. It’s efficient and can reduce costs, but you lose the salesperson who builds excitement and introduces options they hadn’t considered.
People don’t necessarily remember every detail of a transaction. They remember how the experience made them feel, and I believe bathrooms are the same. Clients are buying expertise, creativity, reassurance, trust and a relationship with the person designing one of the most personal rooms in their home.
If we automate so much of the customer journey that all that’s left is an AI-generated design, the only thing left to compete on is price.
Embrace it
I’m not anti-AI. Businesses that ignore it will well and truly get left behind. But we do need to be careful about how we embrace it. Use AI to write first drafts, speed up quotations, check specifications, proofread emails, spell check proposals, generate ideas and remove repetitive administration.
Give it the boring stuff. Even let it tidy up a piece of writing (like this one!).
Then, give the time it creates back to your people. Give designers more time with clients, sales teams more time to develop relationships, marketers more time to try new ideas and creative people more freedom to create.
Companies should embrace it, innovate with it and invest in it. Short-term savings are attractive, especially in a difficult financial climate, but long-term success comes from creating customers who trust you, remember the experience, recommend you to friends and come back again.