AI Enters Nearly Every Discussion at Autodesk University

Artificial intelligence finds a role in virtually every aspect of the design-and-make process, from innovative structural suggestions to the intellectual manual labor of engineering.

Rob Spiegel

October 17, 2024

3 Min Read
AI at Autodesk University
Autodesk

At a Glance

  • AI tools are backed by considerable computing power.
  • AI contributes to sustainability by optimizing resources and reducing the environmental impact of the design.
  • AI can predict and prevent risks, optimize workflows, and reduce errors and waste.

In 2018, I attended the Toronto Autodesk Accelerate conference – a mini version of Autodesk University, the company’s mammoth user conference. At a reception, I asked an Autodesk executive what the most important new development in design and manufacturing was.  Without a blink, he said, “Generative design.”

At the time, generative software’s ability to create a draft design from engineering instructions was amazing, nearly magic. The software could find the most efficient version of the part. Often this resulted in shapes that resembled the bone structure of the creature in the movie, Alien. Kinda beautiful and kinda scary. Design has stepped into a brave new world.

Much has changed in product design during the ensuing six years. Generative design is still an important tool with growing capabilities. Yet now it is part of a larger concept: artificial intelligence. Where AI was once the next-new-thing as generative design, AI has now become the only thing.

Technology comes in waves of democratization

I’ve seen two mammoth waves on technology change in my lifetime. Both involved technology moving from highly trained experts to the great unwashed – us. The first came in the early 1980s with the personal computer. Previously, the computers lived in large, cooled rooms and were tended by men in white lab coats. That was during the era when IBM had a dress code, down to the color of the shoes. The PC was suddenly on our desks, every desk. It became Time Magazine’s “Man of the Year” in 1982.

Related:Will AI Replace Embedded Software Developers?

The second massive change arrived with the new century with the infamous Dot Com Bubble. Even though the bubble burst – remember “irrational exuberance”? – the internet changed everything. Gone was the secretary, gone was the travel agent, gone was Border Books, gone was the recording industry. We’re still struggling to adjust to its impact. It has arrived in many stages, starting with email-replaces-snail-mail and evolving to social media that drove teenage angst and political disruption.

In industry, AI appeared many years ago with predictive maintenance and other machine-learning tools. Generative design followed, providing a deeper dive into engineering functions such as the design work itself. Just as the PC revolution and the dot com era required a technology breakthrough (new chips, new software, net connection tools), AI required a major shift – the cloud. Autodesk’s AI tools are backed by considerable computing tools. Developments in faster processing speeds and cheaper memory helped considerably.

Related:Manufacturers Turn to AI to Transform Processes

Taking the dull work out of design engineering

At one of the general sessions at Autodesk University 2024, Jeff Kinder, Autodesk’s EVP of Design & Manufacturing said, “We’ve added AI to our products to reinvent how work gets done, to increase productivity, and to boost profitability.” Just as robots are taking away the dull and dirty work in factories, AI is taking away tedious engineering, the dull and dirty intellectual work.

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A good example is the design of the track of a huge earth mover. Once all the design work is done of the left side, the software immediately creates a mirror version of the track for the right side, saving countless hours of design engineering work. “It's so sweet that this happens,” said Kinder. “We're reducing hours or even days in engineering time.”

The engineering benefits of AI

Autodesk sees AI as a tool – or perhaps a mindset – to drive creativity, efficiency, even sustainability. Here are some of the engineering functions of AI according to Autodesk:

AI augments creative problem solving. AI helps engineers explore design possibilities, pushing boundaries, offering solutions outside the envelope.

Automates tedious engineering work. By automating repetitive and mundane engineering tasks, AI lets engineers focus on more strategic and innovative work.

Related:Forget the Hype – Here’s Some Real AI

Enhances decision making. AI offers powerful analysis tools to help engineers make informed decisions by processing large datasets quickly and accurately.

Improves efficiency. AI tools can predict and prevent risks, optimize workflows, and reduce errors and waste.

Supports sustainability. AI can contribute to sustainability practices by optimizing resources and reducing the environmental impact of the design, manufacture, and end-use cycle.

About the Author

Rob Spiegel

Rob Spiegel serves as a senior editor for Design News. He started with Design News in 2002 as a freelancer covering sustainability issues, including the transistion in electronic components to RoHS compliance. Rob was hired by Design News as senior editor in 2011 to cover automation, manufacturing, 3D printing, robotics, AI, and more.

Prior to his work with Design News, Rob worked as a senior editor for Electronic News and Ecommerce Business. He served as contributing editolr to Automation World for eight years, and he has contributed to Supply Chain Management Review, Logistics Management, Ecommerce Times, and many other trade publications. He is the author of six books on small business and internet commerce, inclluding Net Strategy: Charting the Digital Course for Your Company's Growth.

He has been published in magazines that range from Rolling Stone to True Confessions.

Rob has won a number of awards for his technolloghy coverage, including a Maggy Award for a Design News article on the Jeep Cherokee hacking, and a Launch Team award for Ecommerce Business. Rob has also won awards for his leadership postions in the American Marketing Association and SouthWest Writers.

Before covering technology, Rob spent 10 years as publisher and owner of Chile Pepper Magazine, a national consumer food publication. He has published hundreds of poems and scores of short stories in national publications.

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