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The world of development isn’t the same as it was 10 years ago. Technological advancements, shifting user expectations, and the rapid growth and evolution of programming languages and frameworks have changed the landscape in multiple ways.
Business experts and IT pioneers are now looking toward the future—seeking to understand how the industry will be revolutionized by the latest tech buzzword and innovation trend: artificial intelligence (AI).
AI technologies (including machine learning, natural language processing, and deep learning), are rapidly taking the spotlight in tech discussions. Because, while web development is mainly influenced by human creativity and technical expertise, it will also greatly benefit from the sophisticated advantage of AI.
This article aims to offer you deeper insight into why and how artificial intelligence is changing web development, which tools are already gaining traction, and how developers are refining their craft to remain relevant.
The Evolution of Web Development Over the Decades
Understanding how artificial intelligence is positioned to change web development requires you to take a step back and turn your attention to the past—and assess how the sector has already evolved up to this point.
In the early days of the internet, websites were simple, static HTML pages that delivered the bare minimum needed for engagement: basic information, with limited interactivity. But, as the World Wide Web grew, so did the complexity of these websites. The introduction of Cascading Style Sheets, JavaScript, and dynamic content resulted in the creation of more sophisticated sites that now offered something new; interactive elements such as forms, animations, and multimedia.
The demand for engagement only grew from there. Functional websites grew, and so did the complexity of the tools and technologies needed to build them. Then came the advent of content management systems, many of which are still used today. WordPress and JavaScript frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.js revolutionized the process—making it faster and more efficient.
Therefore, change and evolution are nothing new when it comes to web development. Artificial intelligence (particularly in machine learning and natural language processing), is just setting the stage for the new era of innovation.
How Is AI Becoming Important in Web Development?
AI-focused website design
Web design is one aspect that has always been relatively human-centric. It requires creativity, technical skills, an understanding of user behavior—and an ability to keep up with changing trends and aesthetics. While design tools have steadily become more powerful over the years, many elements continue to have a significant pain point: the need for manual input and decision-making.
Artificial intelligence is starting to change this.
As an example, one can focus on website layout and design. Tooling defined by AI capabilities like Wix’s Artificial Design Intelligence and Bookmark’s AiDA can automatically generate a website’s layout based on simple user inputs, such as the type of business or website the customer seeks to build. Additionally, by using machine learning algorithms, the technology unlocks another game-changer: the ability to analyze thousands of existing designs and apply patterns known to be both visually appealing and functional, with little to no effort.
Personalized User Experiences
Besides the impact it can have on speeding up and improving website design, there’s another area that sparks excitement regarding the usage of AI—and that is personalization. Tailoring experiences to a large variety of users has always been a point of complexity and friction for industry experts. Making offers is harder than ever before, as customers have ever-growing and shifting expectations of the brands they interact with.
How does artificial intelligence shift the tides in your favor?
By analyzing user data with top accuracy, including behavior patterns, preferences, and browning history. Then, it applies the insights to your website, adjusting content and design alike.
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are already benefiting significantly from the technology by using AI to curate and personalize feeds. Similarly, news websites and blogs can be taken to the next level of excellence by tailoring their content recommendations and offering the best possible reading experience to their users.
But that’s not all. Another area where businesses are witnessing immense growth is voice search and voice-enabled devices, such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. These are becoming more commonplace—and many designers are increasingly incorporating voice search capabilities into websites to expand their audience reach, speed up the process, and help customers find the best offerings.
AI-Driven Development Tools
Besides the efficiencies it brings to side processes such as design and user experience, artificial intelligence is also revolutionizing the development process itself. Its capabilities are becoming more intelligent and, while they cannot replace the expertise and innovation of a human developer, they shine in another way—by automating repetitive tasks, suggesting the best code, and even detecting bugs.
GitHub Copilot is, for example, one of the solutions that uses OpenAI’s Codex model to provide real-time suggestions to developers, as they write. That expands from simple lines to entire functions based on context and complexity, speeding up the process, and reducing employee burnout and stress.
And for many field experts, technologies such as DeepCode and Snyk are already a core part of their work schedule. They analyze code and identity vulnerabilities, scan for optimization opportunities, and fix issues before they can affect your enterprise and its success.
Chatbots and Customer Support
Almost everyone in the corporate world has had some experience either deploying or using chatbots on another service. While many have questioned their efficiency in the past, the tides are starting to shift. With the power of AI and its immense potential for problem-solving, chatbots are now an essential feature on many websites, especially in e-commerce and customer service systems.
What improvements boosted their popularity once more? These AI-powered systems are now able to engage in natural conversations with users compared to the superficial interactions of the past. Today, they’re capable of understanding and responding to user queries just like any human agent would, answering questions, resolving issues, and even helping with sales decisions.
In Closing
With artificial intelligence stronger than ever (and promising continuous innovation for web development) industry experts must fully understand its influence—and just how useful it can be in achieving the website design outcomes needed to retain customers.
AI is helping developers create more efficient, effective, and engaging websites, combining human innovation and creativity with the efficiency of the machine. As technology continues to advance and surprise the world, it’s positioned to fully reshape the way websites are developed and interacted with.
The future of web development is bright and, driven by AI, it will lead to a seamless, user-centric, and future-focused internet.
