My personal experience is that woodworking at hobby grade is a art+science+engineering in varying proportions depending on the person's interests. I can relate to your friend in that almost always, as I work through a project, it evolves in its details, joinery, design (even size as I make my mistakes) etc. However, it is important to visualise _what_ one wants in mind before beginning to mill wood. I sketch so much in various perspectives to narrow that down and try to visualise how my idea would materialise.

If AI could catalyse that first part and help visualise the idea in many perspectives that are easy to tweak and improve, I think it will be a solid base to work upon and change organically as we build it in the shop.