Earlier this month, Figma was forced to suspend its AI assistant for designers, Make Designs, after the assistant began creating projects that closely resembled Apple applications for the iOS platform. The company’s specialists have since studied this issue and provided an explanation for why the neural network created such projects.
The Issue with Make Designs
The creation of app designs similar to Apple products raised concerns about potential legal troubles. Users of the Figma platform expressed dissatisfaction with the software solution’s performance, suggesting that the neural network might have been trained on designs from Apple and other companies. The root of the problem was traced back to Figma engineers not properly testing the components being added to the generative neural network.
Figma’s Response and Next Steps
Figma’s announcement notes that the company “closely studied” the underlying Make Designs systems during algorithm development and beta testing. However, a week before the neural network’s public launch, new components and example layouts were added to the configuration without proper testing. The company admits that some of these components were similar to real-life applications, resulting from the AI algorithm processing certain user requests, notes NIX Solutions.
As soon as Figma became aware of the issue with the design algorithms, the problematic components were removed. The company is now working to improve quality control. Once these improvements are complete, Make Designs will be made publicly available again. Although no specific time frame has been announced for the AI assistant’s return, we’ll keep you updated on any developments.