WordPress.com will now build you a full website with AI

[cpvr]

WordPress.com has launched a new AI-powered site builder in early access that can construct your WordPress webpage, including fully written text, layout, generated images, and more. WordPress.com says the AI website builder can make “beautiful, functional websites in minutes.” However, it can’t yet do the heavy lifting of creating an ecommerce site or one with “complex integrations,” but the company says to stay tuned for such features.
You’ll need a WordPress.com account to start the free trial for the WordPress AI Site Builder, and while you won’t need a credit card on file to have fun with the tool, you will need to get a WordPress.com hosting plan to actually make the site usable, which starts at $18 per month (less if you pay for a whole year or more).

The builder works by inputting prompts into a chatbot, so you can tell it that you need a personal or business site, describe how you want the header to look, what kind of colors you like, etc. WordPress.com says being as specific as possible in your first prompt will get you better results, but the chatbot can ask you for information like your business name and location. It then makes you a site complete with AI-generated headers, images, and text. You can then continue prompting the chatbot to tweak anything from colors, styles, photos, and information that you want included.

I tried it out and made my own fake retro videogame store website. I got a super basic but serviceable site laid out in sections like Discover, Events, and Visit Us. It populated a collection of random AI-generated gameroom images, including one with a girl leaning on a CRT displaying an unknown Tetris-like puzzle game. It also presented a “Sega Saturday Showdown” event that you can RSVP for (coupled with an entirely unrelated image of a woman holding a box of Christmas cookies).
Once the site is built, you can transfer it to WordPress.com’s hosting service, where you can continue working on it manually or return to the AI builder. The tool only works for new WordPress instances and can’t yet be used for pre-existing sites.
The new tool comes as WordPress.com owner Automattic just moved to shed 16 percent of its workforce last week. Automattic also faces a lawsuit brought on by hosting company WP Engine, which offers several tools, including templates, to help you build and manage a site.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/645993/wordpress-com-is-offering-a-new-ai-site-builder

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Elegant Themes also has a similar feature. I've played with it but the feature needs work.

Personally, I like building the site out myself. It's something that I've always looked forward to.

I do wonder if many of the so-called "WordPress agencies" out there saying they will build you the perfect WordPress site are actually doing it with AI and charging you an outrageous fee for something you could have done yourself. If you suspect it, just start asking for changes because that's where it gets difficult for them to keep certain parts but have AI change other parts without impacting other portions of the website. That's how you can catch them!

 

[cpvr]

Elegant Themes also has a similar feature. I've played with it but the feature needs work.

Personally, I like building the site out myself. It's something that I've always looked forward to.

I do wonder if many of the so-called "WordPress agencies" out there saying they will build you the perfect WordPress site are actually doing it with AI and charging you an outrageous fee for something you could have done yourself. If you suspect it, just start asking for changes because that's where it gets difficult for them to keep certain parts but have AI change other parts without impacting other portions of the website. That's how you can catch them!

There's a new thing going around called "vibe coding", which is actually AI systems helping those code things or actually coding the entire system without editing. It wouldn't surprise me if those Wordpress agencies are actually using AI.

Once something breaks on the backend or frontend without human insights, then it's going to be a major issue. Wordpress is a big business, so the agencies know that there isn't anyone out there that can actually call them out on it.

Some of these agencies are charging thousands of dollars of month, but it's a big business.

 

[Nomad]

I have heard of this news but I might not try this method to build a wordpress site. Well, I might try creating layout through AI but I wouldn't trust AI to build me content.