The administration of the Figma platform was forced to disable the Make Designs tool, based on generative artificial intelligence, which began developing projects for users that looked strikingly similar to iOS applications.
Figma CEO Dylan Field detailed the issue on his X social media page, taking blame for rushing his employees to release the product to the public and expressing confidence in the company’s approach to AI. He also quoted Not Boring Software CEO Andy Allen, who clearly demonstrated how Figma Make Designs almost completely copies Apple’s weather application, and warned users of the platform that this is fraught with legal problems.
“We haven’t done any training on the generative AI features,” Figma CTO Kris Rasmussen told The Verge. The Make Designs tool, he said, was run on off-the-shelf AI models and a custom design system. Training is also not carried out on user content or ready-made application designs, Dylan Field added. Make Designs is based on two AI models: OpenAI GPT-4 and Amazon Titan Image Generator G1, the CTO said, which suggests that Apple’s designs were used to train AI in OpenAI or Amazon.
User Consent and Future Updates
The platform administration is not giving up on the idea of training its own AI models using the content of Figma users, but the company is not going to rush things either. Last week, users were presented with the AI training policy and given until August 15 to decide whether they agree to provide their materials. In the Starter and Professional tariff plans this consent is given by default, but in the Organization and Enterprise plans, it is not, notes NIXsolutions.
Make Designs will be returning to Figma users for the foreseeable future. “We will review this design system to ensure it offers sufficient variety and meets our quality standards. This is the main cause of the problem. But we will take extra precautions before enabling Make Designs again to ensure that the overall feature meets our quality standards and values,” Rasmussen promised. He also indicated that Make Designs is in beta testing. “Beta versions are by definition imperfect. But it’s safe to say, as Dylan said in his tweet, that we simply didn’t notice this particular problem. And we should have,” concluded Figma’s technical director.
We’ll keep you updated on any further developments regarding the Make Designs tool and other AI initiatives from Figma.