Just like me, I’m sure you’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of AI renders of car designs on social media over the past few years. Our feeds are just clogged with this slop, and we’re not alone. Gorden Wagener, Chief Design Officer at Mercedes-Benz, faces the exact same issue, and he’s sick of it, not only because the renders he sees are uninspired, but also because they make his job that much harder.
Wagener, who has worked at Mercedes since 1997, spoke with me and a group of journalists at the IAA Mobility show in Munich, Germany, on a number of topics, but the conversation turned to artificial intelligence design when he was asked how he sets his own designs apart from what computers churn out. He admitted that Mercedes has been working with AI for a few years now on design, but the automaker hasn’t really gotten anywhere worthwhile with the technology.
“It doesn’t create good results,” Wagener told us.
He did admit that it’s helpful for building backgrounds for images so designers don’t need to create ones for themselves, but for now, that’s about it.
“It creates 99% of sh– solutions that are really ugly or weird or are not brand specific,” the designer said. “And yeah, 1% interesting stuff.
The real problem
Wagener then turned to what he considered to be the “real problem” with AI car renders: the idea we are all losing the “spectacular aspect” of show cars because the internet is full of AI cars that are “over-exaggerated.”
He explained to us that it has become harder to create concept vehicles for auto shows that actually stick out and leave a lasting impression on people because we get so conditioned to seeing these fantastical cars on our social media pages — cars that couldn’t possibly exist in the real world, even as concepts.
“I go through Insta, and it’s just… another one. You get bored, you know? You just see it,” Wagener said. “This AI stuff is getting really annoying.”
I think things like this, that Mercedes is leaning on its heritage a bit more with design lately — especially with the new grille on the electric GLC. It’s certainly distinctive without being terribly exaggerated or outrageous. I’m fairly doubtful that AI will ever truly be able to style or produce a car design that is worth considering, simply because it cannot — by nature — come up with anything original. I think designers know that, and that’s why we have yet to see the technology make any sort of inroads in that sector of the automotive industry. I could be wrong, but I never have been before.
