Is AI Really Changing the Design Landscape?
Last week, our founder Mark Boddington joined Mathilde Le Villain of La Villaine Studio in a fascinating conversation moderated by TF Chan, as part of the French Craft Collective 2025 programme hosted by Business France. The topic: how is AI changing the design landscape and is it truly transforming creativity as we know it.
The discussion explored the evolving relationship between craft and technology, from Thonet’s pioneering work with steam-bending wood to Silverlining’s own sustained investment in research and development since 2008. At Silverlining, we believe that innovation and tradition are not opposites, they are partners. For us, embracing new technology is part of the same drive that pushes us to master ancient techniques, refine processes by hand, and work with materials in ever more expressive ways.
AI may feel like a bold step forward, but it is also a continuation of a long lineage of tools developed to aid the maker. Where it differs is in the claim that it can replicate creativity. As Mark noted during the panel, while AI can help streamline research, visualisation, and early ideation, it still lacks what makes design truly meaningful: human judgment, cultural awareness, emotional resonance, and a sensitivity to materiality.
This is not the first time design has faced a moment of reckoning with technology. During the Industrial Revolution, the Arts and Crafts movement emerged as a bold response to mechanisation, celebrating the handmade, the meaningful, and the individual. Mark’s own great-grandfather was a founding member of the Century Guild, one of the early voices in that movement. Today, the enduring relevance of craft, seen in everything from the Loewe Craft Prize to the growing number of young makers, is once again offering an alternative to mass-produced uniformity.
These are the values that shape everything we do at Silverlining. Whether developing intricate marquetry patterns that respond to natural light or creating bespoke pieces that tell personal stories, we prioritise the thoughtful, the tactile, and the enduring. AI can support our thinking, but the human hand and eye remain central to the creative process.
Today, as more people seek depth, texture, and integrity in the objects they live with, we see this as a moment of opportunity. It is a reminder that true innovation does not mean replacing the maker, it means empowering them.
Explore how we combine technology with craft in our philosophy and see this approach come to life through our projects.
