CSS and Styling With AI

TL;DR

• AI is great at Tailwind. It knows the utility classes, common patterns, responsive prefixes.
• It struggles with custom design systems, complex layout puzzles, and "make it feel right" decisions.
• Use AI for speed. Override for quality. Your design eye is the differentiator.

Tailwind made AI better at styling. The utility-class vocabulary is predictable. AI has seen millions of flex, gap-4, and md:grid-cols-2. That's the good news. The rest still needs you.

Where AI Shines

• Utility soup. "Make this a flex row with space-between and items-center" → AI nails it.
• Responsive breakpoints. sm:, md:, lg: patterns. AI knows the convention.
• Common components. Cards, buttons, forms. Standard patterns are well-represented in training data.
• Refactoring. "Convert this to Tailwind" or "use CSS variables instead of hex values." Mechanical work, AI handles it.

Where AI Fails

• Your design tokens. If you use --spacing-3 or a custom scale, AI defaults to Tailwind's scale. You fix it.
• Layout edge cases. Grid that needs to reflow oddly. Flex that collapses wrong on one viewport. AI suggests; you debug.
• Animation and micro-interactions. Timing, easing, orchestration. AI often oversimplifies or overcomplicates.
• Design system alignment. Does this match our buttons, our cards, our typography? AI doesn't know your system.

Pragmatic Approach

Use AI for:

• First-pass styling of new components
• Bulk refactors (e.g., migrating to a new token set)
• Responsive scaffolding
• Repeating patterns (lists of cards, form fields)

You handle:

• Design system consistency
• Layout debugging
• Accessibility (focus styles, contrast, reduced motion)
• Performance (unused CSS, critical path)

Tailwind-Specific Tips

• Mention your config. "We use Tailwind v4, custom spacing scale, dark mode class strategy." Context improves output.
• Request utility-first. AI sometimes outputs custom CSS when Tailwind would work. "Use Tailwind utilities only" helps.
• Review class bloat. AI can over-specify. Trim flex flex-row to flex when redundant.

// AI default — generic Tailwind
<div className="flex gap-4 p-6 rounded-lg bg-gray-100">

// Your version — design tokens, reduced motion support
<div className="flex gap-spacing-4 p-spacing-6 rounded-radius-lg bg-surface-subtle motion-reduce:transition-none">

Do This Next

1. Style one new component with AI assistance. Note every class you changed and why. That's your "AI CSS review" pattern.
2. Create a short prompt for your design system: "We use [tool], tokens from [file], prefer [X] for spacing." Use it every time you ask AI for styling.