This introduction examines how AI will transform not only architectural design but architectural theory. Framing theory as applied intelligence, it argues that AI will augment critical inquiry, historical analysis, and philosophical reflection, potentially reshaping disciplines from history to cognitive science. Drawing on computational neuroscience and predictive processing, it proposes a new theoretical paradigm linking AI, perception, and architectural imagination. At the same time, it highlights existential and pedagogical challenges, questioning authorship, academic authority, and the future of education. AI emerges as both good and bad.
