Title
AI’nspired: Evaluating AI-generated versus web images as sources of design inspiration
Authors
[ 1 ] Instytut Architektury i Ochrony Dziedzictwa, Wydział Architektury, Politechnika Poznańska | [ 2 ] Instytut Architektury Wnętrz i Wzornictwa Przemysłowego, Wydział Architektury, Politechnika Poznańska | [ 3 ] Instytut Informatyki, Wydział Informatyki i Telekomunikacji, Politechnika Poznańska | [ P ] employee | [ S ] student
Scientific discipline (Law 2.0)
[2.1] Architecture and urban planning[2.3] Information and communication technology
Year of publication
2026
Published in
Article type
scientific article
Publication language
english
Keywords
EN
- inspiration
- design education
- creative output
- generative AI
- learner perceptions
Abstract
EN Recent advances in image-generative artificial intelligence (AI) have provided designers with powerful tools for quickly exploring and iterating on their creative concepts. However, the effectiveness of different sources of inspiration in supporting design development remains underexplored, particularly within design education. This study examines the impact of AI-generated images versus web-sourced images on designers’ creative outcomes. For this purpose, we have gathered a dataset of design projects created by 50 students, who used AI-generated and web-sourced images as inspiration. To identify sources of inspiration in each project, we propose computer vision metrics that measure contrast and color similarity, as well as deep learning embedding similarity. The similarities computed between final designs and inspiration images are compared with student surveys expressing their perception of sources of inspiration and with expert ratings assigned to each project. The comparison shows that the students’ stated inspiration is positively correlated with the computed inspiration-design similarity and that students exhibit a preference for AI-generated inspiration, even if they are first-time users of generative tools. Moreover, our study reveals that both web and AI images are inspirational, but they affect different aspects of design. AI inspirations correlate strongly with the overall composition and mood, and web-sourced inspirations play an important role in defining color, materials, and grounding the design in reality.
Pages (from - to)
127 - 144
License type
CC BY-NC-ND (attribution - noncommercial - no derivatives)
Open Access Mode
open journal
Open Access Text Version
final published version
Date of Open Access to the publication
in press
Full text of article
Access level to full text
public
Ministry points / journal
200
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