Introduction
It is no secret that businesses that are looking to maximize profit in the near future are looking at the role AI can play to unlock potential profits. For businesses in industries that rely on Computer-Aided Design (CAD) the question can be asked, how is AI transforming their industry or supplementing current technology to help boost profit margins?
AI, CAD, and other Acronyms
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a specific discipline of computer science whose main aim is to o design computational systems that operate similar to human intelligence despite being made out of components that make up a computer rather than an organism. AI and its principles have been used sometimes to imitate and even surpass unique human characteristics including but certainly not limited to learning, prediction, perception, speech recognition, decision-making, translation, social intelligence, and motion.
How then is AI being used in CAD, is likely the next logical question needing to be answered? In the past traditional CAD software has been described as parametric. Meaning that through features and the constraints of the software repetitive changes to the model can in theory be automated. This is typically time-consuming and relies on a lot of previous errors and learning from mistakes to be realized in the professional environment.
One use case of AI in CAD applications is to drastically speed up the parametric process drastically increasing workflow and production speeds. AI is capable of doing this by performing computational tasks much faster than a human, the human operator could make a change to the model, realize it will cause some kind of issue then change the model. The AI-enabled software package can run a similar process but exponentially faster. For every error encountered by the human operator, an AI module could have done thousands. This strictly forms part of the AI discipline of Machine Learning, but it is not hard to see the benefits of such technology for both CAD and Building Information Modelling (BIM) software packages. While it is important to know the distinction between BIM solutions like revit vs autocad both are seeing the impact of AI integration.
AI Trends Shaping Modern CAD
Early adopters of AI with regards to CAD are seeing the potential of the technology in automation as well as speedy error detection and resolution, however experts expect AI to impact several other key areas of CAD.
Several specialized engineering disciplines need to operate and collaborate on the same model. This is turn has always meant that errors could and would crop up during the design phase. AI can predict when a clash might occur and provide a solution right away, simplifying the design phase and allowing different specializations to collaborate more effectively. Similar principles can be used in the testing of prototypes with AI algorithms being used to test a prototype even before a prototype is manufactured.
Conclusion
AI has become somewhat of a buzzword, especially among marketers and sales teams wanting to flog products. Their software “solution” has AI stamped all over it and when asked to explain how it is used it is portrayed as some kind of techno-magic. This detracts from the real innovations AI is bringing to several industries including businesses reliant on efficient and accurate CAD modeling.