Letters To the Editor
Opinion by Ralph Grabowski and readers
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Speaking of support, thank you! to
* Rakesh Rao
A New Book on AutoCAD -- in Paper!
From the editor: I was stunned to learn that an AutoCAD (paper) book was being updated in 2026. I didn’t think that happened anymore.
SDC had author Dan Abbot to rewrite his 420-page tutorial on AutoCAD. He asked me to review a pre-publication copy, I did some tech editing on it, and wrote a blurb for it.
Being a CAD instructor for several decades, Dan knows more about AutoCAD than even I do, so I suspect that just about any AutoCAD user will learn some things from his writings. After all, the very first chapter is entitled, “Design Standards.”
You can get a free PDF of the book’s chapter 1 from https://sdcpublications.com/Textbooks/AutoCAD-Professionals-Handbook/ISBN/978-1-63057-790-2/
Re: The New $8-Billion Bet on AI for MCAD (link to article)
Would love to try this on my next DIY build: Physics-based CAD means fewer warped prints and real stress tests. Any chance it filters down to hobby tools soon?
- Lukas ‘David’ (via Twitter)
The editor replies: So far, it’s barely been developed in the labs. Wait for firms like Dassault Systemes and Autodesk to announce something. Once they’ve figured it out, then small firm may well launch similar products on GitHub.
Just thought I would reply to this statement: “MCAD systems, both old and new, boast of AI to stay relevant. Legacy MCAD vendors like Dassault Systemes and Autodesk state they’ve been working on AI for a decade already, but their reference point is generative design, which a decade ago they didn’t call ‘AI’.”
I worked at Autodesk from 2010 to 2016, and it’s true: At the exec level, the company was already obsessed with AI back then. Not-in-Product yet, but I was in research, and we were being ‘strongly encouraged’ to try to figure out ways to apply nascent Deep Learning methods to CAD problems. This was before LLMs, so it was more focused on how to collect/generate data and train our own networks.
Generative Design was of course one of the topics where AI was supposed to be applied, but it wasn’t limited to that. As a Bay Area company, Autodesk is usually into this kind of thing much earlier than its competitors. But none of it really went anywhere, at least in that timeframe.
- Ryan Schmidt
I just read your Substack article (The New $8-Billion Bet on AI for MCAD - by Ralph Grabowski) The perspective you shared is exactly the kind of commentary mainstream media is looking for right now. I think this is something we can turn into a feature article in Business Insider.
I think you have a strong chance of being featured. I’m a media researcher for a pay on results PR firm, we only take on jobs we think we can deliver on. Can we talk?
The editor replies: I reprint this letter as an alert over what is being hinted: If I give this public relations firm permission to flog my writings, and if the PR sells it to a publication, then the PR firm takes a cut from whatever pay the publication offers. The key is in the phrase “pay on results.”
I, of course, have no interest in these kinds of arrangements.
Re: Book Review: “Mind & Cosmos” (link to article)
Interesting piece and book. As another non-fundamentalist (Christian or materialist) I want to remind you that you are not alone, although we seem to be in a minority.
- Leo Scholsberg
The editor replies: In my decades in this field, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of Christians at CAD software vendors, as well as among us CAD journalists. Not a majority, of course.
‘As humans evolved from animals’, my view is simpler; ‘humans are animals’.
- Robin Capper
The editor replies: There is no doubt that animals look noticeably similar to humans. I wonder, though, at which point humans gained moral culpability.
I read your last WorldCAD Access. I can’t say I fully understand it. I may have to read it again. I am quite curious about alternatives to Darwin’s theory of evolution.
- Roopinder Tara
The editor replies: For a book like “Mind & Cosmos” it can be tough to work through. I began self-teaching myself philosophy and theology since my mid-40s, and it is only in recent years I’ve begun feel confident in it.
Re: Interfaces as the Primary Bottleneck for AI in Product Design (link to article by Mark Burhop)
For an article I’m writing, I tried out the AI Assist in Onshape. I opened a demo assembly provided by PTC, selected a part, and asked AI Advisor how thick it should be. It replied with a wordy answer, too wordy for my liking. Part of it read, “Onshape’s Thickness Analysis tool can help you visualize and analyze wall thickness problems before manufacturing.” The included link sent me to a general what’s-new video, and not a tutorial on the command.
When I asked “Where is the Thickness Analysis tool?”, it again offered a paragraph of text, this time with a link to Onshape’s help file. I would have expected it to launch the command for me, or even highlight the command’s icon in the toolbar.
In all of this, I am typing. What ever happened to speech input?
- Ralph Grabowski
Mark Burhop replies: I can just see someone a few months ago thinking “what this software needs is AI chat.”
Re: The Real AI Risk for Design and Manufacturing (link to article by Mark Burhop)
With companies like Boeing requiring that aircraft CAD drawings be readable for 50 years, I’m not seeing fast market uptake.
- Ralph Grabowski
Mark Burhop replies: At least not until AI can reliably, and without error, read and create CAD drawings. After all these years (decades) of trying to get rid of drawings, surely it is just around the corner, right ?
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