As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, more businesses are asking whether they still need a web developer at all. From drag-and-drop builders to AI-powered code generators, it can seem tempting to skip the traditional development process and let AI handle everything. For small businesses and marketing managers trying to cut costs or keep up with competitors, it’s easy to see the appeal.
However, while AI tools have made significant progress, building a reliable, functional and high-performing website still requires more than AI. While AI is a valuable assistant, as of today, it is not a replacement when it comes to professional web design and development. Of course, we don’t mind cleaning things up, but companies can save themselves a lot of headaches and money by doing things right from the start and carefully balancing the risks.
AI Can Speed Things Up, But It Can’t Build Complex Sites
There are real efficiencies that AI brings to the table. It can help brainstorm layout ideas, generate wireframes, suggest color palettes and even draft basic content. These tools can be beneficial in the early stages of a project. However, at the time of writing this, AI cannot account for the nuances that make a website function at a high level, especially one that needs to be responsive across devices, optimized for search engines, ADA compliant or integrated with complex features like e-commerce, bookings or custom user flows.
For example, our team has tested AI tools that generate page layouts, and while the desktop version might look polished, the mobile layout is often incorrect. Fixing that requires a developer who understands responsive design and can manually tweak breakpoints. We’ve also seen AI-generated headings that disregard proper heading hierarchy, such as skipping from an H1 to an H4. The heading hierarchy is an important formatting structure on websites and includes things such as larger fonts or code that help human readers, screen readers and search engines understand how a webpage is organized. When headings are used incorrectly, it negatively affects accessibility by confusing screen readers. Misuse of headings can result in decreased rankings in search since search engines value this hierarchy too. We’ve also seen that the images AI suggests often lack proper alt text. When appropriately used, alt text enhances SEO and supports accessibility, so omitting it can result in lower positioning in search as well
The Hidden Costs of Building Websites with AI Tools
With many compelling AI web-building tools on the market, it raises the question of whether sites can be designed with a tool and then transferred to platforms like WordPress. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Some AI web tools are excellent for learning to code and prototyping simple web apps, but in general, at the time of writing this, they haven’t yet been designed to generate robust, production-level websites.
Reviews from web developers note that many AI web tools have basic coding output and repetitive, popular frameworks, resulting in cookie-cutter layouts. Having a custom layout isn’t just about the vanity of the aesthetics either. Website visitors subconsciously judge a business based on the unique appearance of the site. If it appears mass-produced, competitors with more polished sites will win customers’ trust and their business. Additionally, if an AI-built website only has basic functionality, any custom functionality like product filtering, advanced search or secure checkout still needs to be rebuilt by hand.
Moving an AI-built website into a professionally managed platform currently introduces a multitude of technical complications. Most systems rely on structured themes, plugins or integrations, and dropping in raw AI-generated code can lead to compatibility issues and formatting problems. These tools often insert excessive or redundant code behind the scenes, which can slow down page load times, make future edits harder and increase the chances of something breaking when updates are made. And while WildRock might be working ourselves out of a job here, typically when our team comes in to “fix” these errors, including the time and budget required to “clean up” a poorly generated site and make it production-ready, it often exceeds what it would have cost to build it correctly from the beginning.
These are just a few of the practical costs associated with using AI tools to build a website. But what if the unimaginable happened when using AI to code a website? In one real-world example, an AI coding assistant deleted an entire project database without warning or permission. The developer lost nine days of work, and the AI calmly admitted, “I ignored your explicit ‘NO MORE CHANGES without permission’ directive.” For a business owner, that could mean losing customer data, sales records or booking history in seconds, with no way to undo it.
We’ve even seen firsthand how AI plugins connected to WordPress themes (like Divi AI) can be problematic. For example, when one client used an AI plug-in to build a new page on their site, the AI tool unintentionally applied global changes, modifying the fonts and color palette across the entire website. We love when clients are willing to roll up their sleeves, but fixing it unfortunately wasn’t just a matter of clicking undo.
When we first dove into this project, we had a hard time pinpointing what the issue was. When we finally identified what we were looking at, and after many conversations with the client, it required hours of our time to isolate the changes, restore the original settings and ensure everything was functioning correctly again. To make the situation even more stressful, the new page was needed to launch a new product, where PR efforts would be driving a lot of traffic back to the new page and the site at large. It was a time when the client could not afford for the site to be malfunctioning. The result? A lot more time, money and frustration (for our team and theirs) than if conversations had been had and proper testing set up to ensure the desired outcome.
So, What’s the Role of AI in Web Design and Development?
At WildRock, we’re not anti-AI. We use it every day. When applied responsibly, AI can save time and spark creativity. As of today, it’s an excellent tool for generating initial content drafts, ideating layout ideas or creating a starting point for standard components like contact forms. At the writing of this white paper, however, it’s not a substitute for the types of websites we produce for our clients, which require professional strategy, UX planning, mobile optimization and secure coding practices.
If your website simply functions as a digital business card with only a few pages needed, AI tools can be the perfect solution. However, if your site is a tool for driving a significant amount of your revenue, managing bookings or showcasing a premium brand experience, you need a strong foundation, which still requires a trusted partner.
The smart move isn’t to ignore AI or fear it. It’s to partner with a team that knows how to use AI responsibly while understanding where it falls short, and our goal is to keep this white paper updated as we continue to learn more about AI capabilities. At WildRock, we blend the speed and flexibility of AI with the expertise and judgment of real experts. That’s how we help our clients build sites that not only look good, but are also highly functional, drive sales and are SEO-optimized.