Will your next client come from ChatGPT?
Nicolaus, F. (June 11, 2025) Business of Home
Early in 2023, Boston designer Jim Cappuccino was going through the recent leads that had come in through his website when he noticed something unusual. In the field asking how the prospective client had heard about the firm, they had written “ChatGPT.” This was only a few months after the chatbot’s public launch, and while it was hoovering up users and making headlines, the tool still felt like a novelty.
When he took the call, he discovered that this person had typed in some basic information about their project and asked ChatGPT to recommend a designer. The project turned out not to be a fit, but Cappuccino was tickled by the experience, telling Business of Home later that year: “I know ChatGPT can make stuff up. But I like to joke that, since the client had typed in ‘great Boston designers’ and my name came up, it was telling the truth this time.”
Mea culpa time: In the article that included Cappuccino’s aforementioned interview, I made a prediction that proved to be shortsighted: “It’s unlikely that this kind of open-ended search will lead to a ton of new business for any one designer.”
Two years later, it’s safe to say that guess was wrong. ChatGPT may not yet be netting “a ton” of leads for any individual firm, but designers are absolutely getting work from it and other AI-powered search tools—and it’s a trend that’s likely to continue. While much of the industry’s focus has been on worrying that artificial intelligence was coming to take designers’ jobs, we’ve overlooked the fact that it’s also getting jobs for designers.
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