I have several customers on retainer for their websites. Every few years, I perform a refresh to give the site a fresh new look or update outdated layouts — this is included as part of their service at no additional charge.
Great video. Here are some thoughts:
I am a “picture first” designer. I’d like to be able to either a) describe verbally what I want a site to look like (and behave) and/or b) upload a graphic image and say “Help me build this.”
But I also want AI to look at all the assets available to me in the program including components or templates I’ve purchased or created. And then, as I explore design strategies, I want AI to tell me what I can build with what I have.
But then, I’d like AI to look at the Elements store and recommend to me other things I can buy that can help me build my vision.
I want AI to be a co-creator, working with my assets, pointing me to other assets, and helping me implement my vision (and what my clients expect and require).
Kind regards,
Mark
Mark Goode
Cell: 214-537-7875
Think. Do. Done.
I don’t work for free… I have also refreshed paying customer website
I’m trying to take the side of business…
You can’t give untold hours of work away for free
This is different.
You can still use the elements software without AI
It still functions the same, it will still be developed, you will continue to gain features and update for your subscription.
AI is another animal all together… another level of programming and work that should - imho - be compensated…
I do not mind paying extra if the help saves me hours of time or gets me better results - especially on improvements for getting better ranking for ai machines, accessibility and such. There is a great difference between ai telling me what to improve and actually doing the work in part. That will open my wallet.
I understand where @MichaelDroste and @Fuellemann are coming from, but I think this approach would significantly limit what’s possible. My AI agent has deep context about each of my clients — their business details, brand voice, tone, and messaging style. If AI is baked directly into Elements with no way to bring your own, I lose all of that. The output would have zero client context and just produce generic AI content.
It’s also worth looking at how other platforms handle this. WordPress, for example, has gone the BYOAI route entirely — and for good reason. Creators need flexibility.
Locking this down risks turning Elements into a walled garden, and that’s not a direction I think anyone here wants to see.
I’m just offering my point of view, it’s not meant to offend in anyway 
One thing I’d like to clarify is that we haven’t made any decisions around pricing yet. In fact, we’ve not even discussed that internally. We simply know this is an area we want to explore and invest in.
Right now, our focus is on building the feature, experimenting, and learning what’s possible before we decide how it will ultimately be packaged and delivered.
What we’re working on has the potential to fundamentally change how websites are built inside Elements, we’re not going to rush it. We want to take the time to get this right and explore the best possible approach…
That may include allowing users to both, connect their own AI tools via MCP, or just use the built-in Elements AI service for a simpler and more integrated experience. One thing worth noting is that AI built directly into Elements will probably have some significant advantages because it’s native to the app. Nothing has been decided yet, so this is just hypothetical.
I hope the past three years have shown that we’re focused on building the best tool we can and doing right by you guys.
Not offended and I’m sorry if I came off strong…
I totally agree with the knowledge of Claude knowing all my articles knowing all my podcasts and creating all keywords and tags - that knowledge through MCP I would like to apply to that website…
It would be kind of a bummer though if ai could only do one website…
I’ve got 15-20 sites and would like use ai on all…
Elements is very nice. Personally, I worry the reckless investment fueling AI may destroy our economy.
AI costs more than we currently pay. It’s unsustainable.
It may be the best thing since sliced bread, but I don’t think it will be within my budget for long.
I appreciate the work invested in Elements. Hopefully, I can continue using it without AI.
It is indeed obvious how Elements is dedicated to bringing a productive, first-class experience to users.
very good !
No, your fine, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t coming across strong…
I must have missed that nugget in the post. Thanks for pointing that out. That’s awesome news!! Let’s hope that “may” turns into a “will” 
Sure, I completely understand that.
I was just hoping that some of the issues that currently make the CMS 2.0 experience a little less smooth — for example:
and also this one:
might be addressed a bit sooner.
I’m sure these things, along with many others, are already on your to-do list, and I can absolutely appreciate that you’re trying to balance a lot of different priorities and user requests.
I also understand that the issues I’m referring to may be more of a niche concern compared to the much broader excitement around “AI is coming to Elements,” and that it makes sense for you to focus more strongly on that right now.
I just wanted to mention these points so that these smaller details don’t get forgotten along the way.
Good point, especially for us that already have existing AI subscriptions.
Tag lists and Comments would be great!
I think the whole Elements team are doing an amazing job in continually developing this platform.
Was thinking 
How would I use AI…
(I’ve purposefully haven’t seen the video yet)
Will watch now…
Prompt:
“Restructure this page into 3 modern versions, clean, calm, appropriately spaced, lots of empty space, easy to read versions with my existing font, 3x Headers, large base font, use my existing photos or include appropriate high resolution photos, and subtle animations that engage user interest”
Then use the response as a jumping off point to what I’d like…
Then take the prompt across my 15-20 sites…
Whilst I love Elements and understand the AI bandwagon there are a few basics in Elements itself which crop regularly in the community that have never been addressed, they might not be able to but regularly you see them coming up. e..g this week we have seen a request for the resource bar to open on the same point when checking things on a page, without having to go and open ones required. I think - please correct me if I wrong - but alphabetically sorting of items in added resources still is not done, there are hundreds of svg components in Elements and I find trawling through them a pain like below example.
I am sure there are others that bug people too and have been requested in past. This is not a criticism of the overall project as I love Elements but sometimes it easier to drop the baton on basics in the rush to steam ahead in the new “fashion” areas. The balancing act is a fine thing and difficult to do but dont forget the basics, unless the AI tool can do these? 
The Load More issue is something Ben can look into, we have a ticket for this and it’s scheduled for next week.
The OG URL is a bigger issue, currently the CMS doesn’t know what Elements is outputting into the header as there’s no API for this. This is going to require us figuring out a nice solution so they can work more closely together. This will probably involve extending the Elements API. I have created a ticket internally for this, and it’s in the queue. I can’t say when this will make it into Elements, but it’s definitely on the radar and something I’d also like to see fixed.
Yes, we have a detailed bug tracking system on GitHub so nothing is forgotten or missed. However, it most certainly is a constant balancing act between new features and bug fixes.
Hopefully our past performance of constantly improving Elements is clear that we do eventually get round to fixing all the things!
While I like the idea of this feature, it’s a nice-to-have rather than a must-have. We already have a backlog of things we’re working on, so yes we might add this feature, but lets be realistic it was only requested this week…
I shall correct you… You can sort resources by right-clicking on the folder and selecting “Sort" to reveal the options. This can be done on a per folder basis.
You can (and should also) use the search bar at the bottom of the resources panel to find the resource you are looking for. It’s really neat.
I think this is a little unfair. We’ve worked tirelessly for over three years on Elements and shipped over 100 builds, often multiple a week with new features, fixes and improvements, with the majority from the community. Building this software is incredibly complex and fielding all user requests and implementing them is a monumental task. I don’t know of any other software business that is this responsive to users.
Sure we could just focus on fixing minor bugs and adding small UI features, but what happens when all the other website builders have AI built-in?
The software landscape is changing really fast. AI is going to be table stakes for website builders. If we don’t implement a top-tier AI solution inside of Elements we’re going to be dead in the water a year from now.
Given that I run AI locally on my Mac, have you considered that option?