Figma explains how its AI tool ripped off Apple’s design

Jul 19, 2024 02:40 AM - 6 months ago 150095

Figma precocious pulled its “Make Designs” generative AI instrumentality aft a personification discovered that asking it to creation a upwind app would spit retired thing suspiciously akin to Apple’s upwind app — a consequence that could, among different things, onshore a personification successful ineligible trouble. This besides suggested that Figma whitethorn person trained nan characteristic connected Apple’s designs, and while CEO Dylan Field was speedy to opportunity that nan institution didn’t train nan instrumentality connected Figma contented aliases app designs, nan institution has now released a afloat connection successful a institution blog post.

The connection says that Figma “carefully reviewed” nan Make Designs’ underlying creation systems during improvement and arsenic portion of a backstage beta. “But successful nan week starring up to Config, caller components and illustration screens were added that we simply didn’t vet cautiously enough,” writes Noah Levin, Figma VP of merchandise design. “A fewer of those assets were akin to aspects of existent world applications, and appeared successful nan output of nan characteristic pinch definite prompts.”

Once Figma identified nan rumor pinch nan creation systems, “we removed nan assets that were nan root of nan similarities from nan creation strategy and abnormal nan feature,” Levin says. The institution is moving done “an improved QA process” earlier bringing backmost Make Designs, though Levin did not supply a timeline. (In an question and reply pinch The Verge earlier this month, CTO Kris Rasmussen said nan institution expected to re-enable nan characteristic “soon.”)

Figma launched Make Designs successful a constricted beta arsenic portion of its Config arena announcements, but soon after, nan Apple-like mockups were posted connected X. Figma pulled nan feature, pinch Field taking responsibility for pushing nan squad to meet a deadline for Config. In our interview, Rasmussen said that Figma didn’t train nan AI models powering nan instrumentality — which see OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Amazon’s Titan Image Generator G1 — at all.

In nan blog post, Levin besides went into immoderate item astir nan creation systems powering nan tool.

To springiness nan exemplary capable state to constitute designs from a wide assortment of domains, we commissioned 2 extended creation systems (one for mobile and 1 for desktop) pinch hundreds of components, arsenic good arsenic examples of different ways these components tin beryllium assembled to guideline nan output.

We provender metadata from these hand-crafted components and examples into nan discourse model of nan exemplary on pinch nan punctual nan personification enters describing their creation goals. The exemplary past efficaciously assembles a subset of these components, inspired by nan examples, into afloat parameterized designs. From there, Amazon Titan, a diffusion model, creates nan images needed for nan design. It’s much aliases little arsenic elemental arsenic AI helping you identify, arrange, capable out, and taxable mini composable templates from a creation strategy to springiness you a jumping disconnected point.

Levin didn’t specify who Figma commissioned for nan systems. The institution declined to comment.

Screenshots showing Figma’s really Figma’s “Make Designs” instrumentality works.

Image: Figma

A screenshot showing components of Figma’s “Make Designs” tool.

Figma’s caption: “Example components successful our handmade creation system.”

Image: Figma

At Config, Figma announced different AI tools, for illustration 1 that generates matter for designs, and those features are still available. The institution besides laid retired its AI training policies. Users person until August 15th to opt successful aliases retired of allowing Figma to train connected their information for imaginable early models. (Users connected Starter and Professional plans are opted successful by default, and users Organization and Enterprise plans are opted retired by default.)