If you look at a lot of AI-generated websites right now, something stands out.
Not right away, but after the third or fourth example, it becomes pretty clear. Everything seems familiar.
The same elements. The same decisions. The same visual patterns.
Typically, it looks like this:
- soft color gradients
- round corners
- three boxes next to each other
- Illustrations that look like any SaaS page from 2024
- often the same type of purple or blue
None of it is “bad.” On the contrary: It is clean, tidy and technically completely okay.
But it is interchangeable.
AI doesn't work with taste — it works with probability. And probability rarely leads to anything of its own. It leads to what works most often. About what everyone's already seen.
That doesn't mean that these tools are bad. On the contrary — they are extremely powerful. In the right hands, they are a huge lever.
With AI, a designer can develop variants, test ideas and solve repetitive tasks more quickly. Things that used to take time are now happening in the background. This creates space for better decisions.
The difference is right here:
A designer uses AI to expand opportunities.
A non-designer uses AI to replace decisions.
And that's exactly where it tips over.
Because when no one consciously decides what something should look or look like anymore, websites are created that “work” but no longer transport anything. They look professional but they don't say anything. That is when a tool becomes a problem.
A quick reality check
If you currently have the feeling that many websites suddenly look “pretty good” but barely differ anymore — then that's not up to you. That is exactly what is happening right now. And that is exactly why “looking good” is no longer enough.
The actual mistake in thinking is relatively simple.
Many believe that if AI makes something look professional, the problem is solved. But design has never been the problem. The problem was always the decision behind it. What is a website actually supposed to communicate? What is important — and what isn't? What makes this company different from all others?
When you break it down, it's always about four levels:
- Strategy answered: Why do we even exist?
- Content answers: What do we say about that?
- Design answers: What does that feel like?
- Distribution answers: Where does that take place?
These four levels determine whether a website works — or simply exists. And that is exactly where the difference lies.
AI can help at any of these levels. It can make suggestions, generate variants, and speed things up.
What it cannot do is combine these levels in a meaningful way, because that requires context and decisions.
Which message is more important than the other? What do you consciously omit? Where do you want to incite — and where deliberately not?
These are not technical issues, but strategic decisions. And it is precisely these decisions that determine whether something is interchangeable — or unmistakable.
TL;DR
With new AI tools like Claude Design, it's becoming ever easier to create websites that look clean and work technically. The problem: Many of these designs are based on the same patterns and therefore appear interchangeable. AI works with probabilities — and thus creates exactly that.
In the hands of designers, these tools are a powerful tool that simplifies processes and creates space for better decisions. However, in the hands of non-designers, they often replace these very decisions.
A good website is not created by tools, but by clarity:
Why you exist. What you're saying. What does that feel like.
And where it becomes visible.
AI can help with that, but it doesn't make those decisions for you.
.png)
