AI-Aided Creativity for Technological Innovation and Sustainability: Proof of Concept of a Digital Platform to Support Decisions in the Field of Daylighting Design

Artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to be increasingly present in the future of building design practices. Indeed, its use offers significant advantages, including reducing project execution times and the replicability of design solutions. The primary application is through generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI). However, the indiscriminate use of Gen AI poses significant risks, including potential loss of control over the design process, lack of originality, and overconfidence in automation. As a result, a rethink is needed on how AI can be leveraged in architectural design contexts by imagining other applications to exploit its potential, which could open new and more human-centric scenarios. An alternative exploration pathway is utilising non-generative AI (Non-Gen AI) in architectural design. This chapter presents SOLARIA, an applied research project that proposes Non-Gen AI integrated into sustainable architectural design. SOLARIA mainly focuses on improving daylighting, even if it can be easily extended to other aspects of architectural design. The project output will be a digital platform, embedding a decision support system (DSS) that allows designers to make informed choices in the early design stage to increase daylighting and integrate sustainable design elements into their projects without delegating all the creative processes to the machine. A proof of concept for implementing the digital platform is provided here, highlighting its strengths, limitations, and expected results.