AI is already part of our lives even though we might not realise it. It is in our phones, filtering spam, identifying Facebook friends, and classifying our images on Instagram. It is in our homes in the form of Siri, Alexa and other AI assistants. It is in our cars and our planes. AI is literally everywhere. Artworks generated by AI have won international prizes, and have been sold at auction. But what does AI mean for the world of design?

This issue of AD explores the nature of AI, and considers its potential for architecture. But this is no idle speculation. Architects have already started using AI for architectural design and fabrication. Yet - astonishingly - there has been almost no debate about AI within the discipline of architecture so far. Surely, nothing can be more important for the profession of architecture right now. The issue looks at all aspects of AI: its potential to assist architects in designing buildings so that it becomes a form of 'augmented intelligence'; its capacity to design buildings on its own; and whether AI might open up an extraordinary new chapter in architectural design.