ASLA Public Policies are educational documents that guide Chapter and member messages on issues that affect the practice of landscape architecture.

 

Chapters and members are encouraged to use these documents to:

• Advocate to policymakers
• Make statements to press and digital media
• Inform allied professions
• Raise public awareness about landscape architecture   

 

 

The new Artificial Intelligence policy recognizes AI's potential while affirming the essential role of human judgment, creativity, and professional responsibility. The public policy also:

The Artificial Intelligence policy document affirms that landscape architecture is fundamentally a human-centered, site-based profession. Landscape architects draw on science, technology, the arts, and deep knowledge of community needs and place to make informed, creative decisions that protect public health, safety, and welfare.

 

While AI can support tasks such as site analysis, climate modeling, and documentation, it cannot yet match human empathy, judgment, or the ability to respond to complex environmental, cultural, and social conditions. The policy document also notes that AI technologies are evolving quickly and rely on data and systems that may be opaque, biased, or environmentally intensive, especially where large data centers stress local resources and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Chapters and members can use this policy to emphasize the irreplaceable role of licensed landscape architects in directing how AI is used, ensuring that tools enhance—rather than undermine—ethical practice, design quality, equity, and long-term environmental sustainability.