On June 26, Figma launched a new interface and several new artificial intelligence (AI) tools, in its third major redesign since its inception. However, soon after its launch, one of the AI tools, called Make Design, which can create app models from text queries, received criticism online. Several netizens claimed that the AI-generated app mockups looked eerily similar to iOS apps. The company responded to the criticism by removing the AI tool, and company CEO Dylan Field responded to the allegations.
The Make Design tool, according to the company, is an AI-powered feature that allows users to add a text query and generate UI layouts and component options along with an app mockup. The tool is designed to help users get a rough design of the app before they can fine-tune it according to their preferences and use case.
However, in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), Andy Allen, co-founder and CEO of Not Boring Software, claimed that the Figma tool generates app mockups that are very similar to existing apps. In one case, the requested weather app design looked very similar to the iOS Weather app.
Figma CEO responds to allegations, cancels Make Design
In response, the website and app builder removed the AI tool. CEO Field also made a series of posts on X to address the issue as well as respond to the allegations. Claiming that the “data training allegations in this tweet are false,” to Allen’s post, he noted that the company had previously mentioned that the AI tool was not trained on Figma content, community files, or app designs. Instead, the company commissioned AI models and third-party design systems.
According to him, the main problem was the low variability of the Make Design tool, which was caused by the use of the standard large language model (LLM). Acknowledging his fault for not properly conducting quality analysis (QA) tests of the feature before release, he added that the feature has been temporarily disabled. “We will re-enable it once we complete a full QA pass on the core design system,” Field added.
In simple terms, the CEO of Figma claimed that the generation problems occurred because the company had no knowledge of where the training data was coming from. The company also outsourced AI models and data from design systems.
For now, the Make Designs AI tool is not available to Figma users. The company will likely run a full system QA to determine whether the design system training data or AI model pre-training data is configured using existing application designs. If this turns out to be the case, users may have to wait a long time before Figma fixes these underlying issues.
