Does intelligent CAD exist?

Abstract

Intelligent CAD is a term which has grown in popularity in recent years as the results of research into Artificial Intelligence (AI) get applied to design problems. But there is confusion as to what the term means; e.g. whether current generations of expert systems for design are Intelligent CAD, or whether Intelligent CAD is simply an unachievable goal. This paper argues that Intelligent CAD represents a vision which is almost identical to the earliest visions of Computer Aided Design (CAD). The major difference now is that we have the opportunity through our improved knowledge of AI and cognitive science to take important strides towards delivering CAD systems close to these visions. However, the opportunity may be missed if we concentrate on the wrong issues. It is also argued that developments towards Intelligent CAD will be successful only if they accept the following tenets: 1. design is considered as an intellectual knowledge-based process, 2. systems do not need to replicate human intelligence; they are required only to exhibit behaviour regarded as intelligent, and 3. necessary components of such systems are knowledge-rich models of designs, the capacity for tacit knowledge, and the ability to learn.