Automattic rolled out an early access version of its new AI Site Builder, a tool designed to help users create full websites in minutes by using a simple chatbot interface.
Here's how it works:
- The user indicates whether they are creating a personal blog, a business site, or a portfolio, and then specifies their preferred colors, styles, header type, and other variables.
- The AI builder then generates a complete website layout, content, and images.
- From there, the chatbot can continue making edits via conversational requests, or the user can takeover and begin making edits themselves manually.
- The tool only supports brand-new websites and doesn't yet work with existing WordPress installations.
- The feature is currently limited to basic websites and blogs and cannot yet support e-commerce websites or more complex integrations, but it's in the works.
Users can try the new AI builder for free by signing up for a WordPress.com account, but publishing a site with it requires a paid hosting plan, which starts at $18/month.
The new offering is designed to compete with similar AI Site Builders by Wix and Squarespace.
I tried out WordPress's AI Site Builder, and it's okay. However to be fair to Automattic, I'm not impressed with any AI site builders. Effectively the quality of their websites are the equivalent of simply choosing a premade template or free WordPress theme. From there you still have to add your own images and write your own text, as the copy that the AI builder produces is extremely lackluster.
For the moment, all these AI website builders feel more like a gimmick to get first-time users onto the platform, as opposed to a genuinely valuable design tool. However maybe they'll improve in time.