Figma Removes AI Tool Over iOS Weather App Mock-Ups

According to Figma CEO Dylan Field, the AI tool was not trained using Figma content, community files, or application designs

On June 26, Figma implemented its third substantial redesign since its inception, which included introducing a new interface and numerous artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Nevertheless, Make Design, an AI tool capable of generating app mock-ups from textual prompts, faced criticism online shortly after its launch. According to several netizens, the AI-generated app mock-ups appeared strikingly similar to the iOS applications.

The company removed the AI utility in response to the criticisms, and the CEO, Dylan Field, has addressed the allegations.

The Problem with Figma’s AI-Powered Design ToolThe Make Design tool is an AI-powered feature that allows users to add a text prompt and generate user-interface layouts and component options, replete with an app mock-up, according to the company.

The tool was created to assist users in obtaining a preliminary application design, which they can then refine to suit their preferences and usage.

Nevertheless, Andy Allen, the Co-Founder and CEO of Not Boring Software, claimed in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that the Figma tool generated mock-ups of apps that closely resembled existing ones.

In one instance, the Design of the requested weather app was strikingly similar to that of the iOS Weather app.

The CEO of Figma has responded to the allegations and has removed the Make Design feature.

The website and app builder removed the AI utility in response. In addition to responding to the allegations, CEO Field published a series of posts on X to address the issue.

In response to Allen’s post, he asserted that the company had previously stated that the AI tool was not trained on Figma content, community files, or app designs and that the accusations regarding data training in the tweet were false.

As an alternative, the organization contracted with third-party AI models and design systems.

According to him, the primary concern was the Make Design tool’s low variability due to the use of an off-the-shelf large language model (LLM).

He acknowledged his responsibility for failing to accurately conduct quality analysis (QA) evaluations of the feature before its release and stated that it was temporarily disabled.

Field said, “We will reactivate it once we have completed a comprehensive QA pass on the underlying design system.”

Simply put, the CEO of Figma asserted that the generation issues resulted from the company’s lack of understanding regarding the source of the training data. The company outsourced the AI models and the data from design systems.

Currently, Figma users are unable to access the Make Designs AI utility.

The company is expected to conduct a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) review of the system to determine whether the training data of the design systems or the pre-training data of the AI model was configured using existing app designs.

If this is the case, users may have to wait an extended period before Figma can resolve these fundamental issues.