#493 - RODERICK BATES, Senior Director & Product Operations at Chaos
SUMMARY
This week, David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design are joined by Roderick Bates, Senior Director & Product Operations at Chaos. The three discussed AI and the future of Architecture, adapting & adopting AI tools, how Chaos is working with AI (material generating, render enhancing, building performance analyzing, and as a collaboration tool), construction documentation, client experience, AI 3D vs 2D capabilities, pre and post AI render workflow, the fragility of the architecture profession & how AI can help, and more. Enjoy!
ABOUT RODERICK
Roderick Bates has made a career out of seeking and developing solutions to complex design challenges. As the Senior Director of Product Operations at Chaos, he is responsible for tracking the industry and market trends shaping the way Chaos customers work, both today and in the future. He collaborates with technology partners, customers, and Chaos product and R&D leaders to assess new product opportunities that will shape the future design.
Previously, as a Principal at KieranTimberlake, he led the efforts to develop and commercialize software and hardware tools used by the greater AEC community to improve the environmental and operational performance of buildings.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) AI in Architecture.
(06:32) Adapting and adopting AI.
“Organizations just have to dive in and face their fear of emerging technology. I think there's a lot of concern that these things can be overly intimidating. Our CEO actually vibe coded her own website and presented it the other week. She's not going to win a design award, but it does show that if you are willing, someone who has zero knowledge of coding was able to actually create and deploy a website using AI tools. That's the kind of capability that's really remarkable in the sense of what it means for practices. You can actually take these AI tools and do very sophisticated things, as long as you have an idea of what you want to do. But for a company, it's also a lesson that you just have to do it. You have to move fast and not be afraid to jump in with these tools to try and experiment.” (09:27)
(14:07) How Chaos is working with AI.
“I really don't want AI features that are tacked on. Everything that we're doing with our AI features has to be part of a workflow. We have an ecosystem of tools, and within the context of that ecosystem, AI needs to function across all of our various software and accelerate workflows between them. We have 30 years of history within the industry. That means that we understand visualization probably better than anyone. If we're releasing an AI feature, it's going to reflect that legacy of knowledge. We're making updates every month, and we're constantly finding ways to improve them so that these AI tools really do serve the needs of the true professional. There are a lot of AI tools, and a lot of them are okay, but there are not many that really make people give up their traditional workflow because it's so much better.” (14:59)
(17:21) Chaos AI material generator.
(22:23) AI render enhancer.
(26:53) Building performance analysis.
(33:33) Collaboration tool.
(36:53) Client experience.
“We're hearing about clients coming to the architect with something that they've generated via AI, for better or worse. They're coming with a house that they rendered according to what they want. They are also starting to take a render or visuals that’s shared by the architect, and they're adjusting it via AI to reflect what they imagine in their mind, and then sharing that as part of their feedback. So it's a very different review process. Part of this is that we're also looking at a shift in who the client is. That client is getting younger, and they grew up in a different digital environment and expectation of how communication should work. Perhaps nowadays people expect a lot more rapid and frequent communication.” (38:19)
(42:16) How AI will change Architecture.
“If you look at where AI is going, you are starting to see more opportunities for automation in architecture processes. You know that an AI-generated building is coming. Autodesk invested $200 million in World Labs, which basically creates a Gaussian splat from a prompt, and it looks like a world that you can navigate. AI capabilities are starting to erode other aspects in architecture, like visualization. Then what is the architect doing? Architects are providing a fundamental service that is going to give a superior experience to the client. I think you need to be very sympathetic about what that client wants if you're going to be providing a superior service versus your bottom-feeder, full AI firm, which you know is coming. Then you're going to have really high-end stuff, and probably a lot of people having to compete in the middle for clients. I think that competing on service is going to be huge, and part of that service is you let the client explore, have fun, and let it be a little bit of a design negotiation with them.” (42:21)
(47:16) AI site enhancer.
(50:48) AI 3D vs 2D capabilities.
(54:05) AI-generated construction documentation.
(55:57) Pre and post AI render workflow.
“The ability for a lot of these AI tools to function as a very, very patient teacher is nice. I think it can present a whole new way for people to learn how to use various tools, and how to visualize by essentially interacting with and asking AI how to achieve your vision. You're not finding a person who can teach you; you can just ask AI, and you can get your answers. It's a very different way of learning and understanding how to use the software.” (01:01:28)
(01:02:18) How different-sized firms are adopting AI.
(01:06:26) Experiment with AI.
“Any major shift in the industry induces strong reactions. When BIM came about, it was a big deal. When parametric architecture came about, people thought it was going to ruin architecture, and we're going to do the same types of buildings. And look at where we are years later. I think any time there is something new that’s disrupting the flow of things, there is a reaction to it, which is usually rejection and fear. But I think once we get to understand it, play with it, and try it, we are each going to find our own way of using it. That's what's going to create the new wave of architecture, and I think that's going to be super interesting.” (01:06:27)
(01:09:31) AI expediting production of good architecture.
(01:12:34) The fragility of the architecture profession & how AI can help.
