Generative design techniques (‘Digital canopy: high-end computation/low-tech construction’ arq 6/3, pp230–245) tend to intrigue and slightly scare (arq 6/4, pp293–294 – letter from Sam Price) at the same time. It is reassuring to know that computers will only be as smart as we can program them. We can even control if they learn and how they learn. Design capabilities using generative methods agreeably are a product of both how smart we make the generative algorithms and how intelligently designers can make use of them. A human designer alone probably would not have come up with the canopy design built and a computer alone could not have.