An explanation of generative design

In this video, TechTarget editor Sabrina Polin talks about generative design.

Press a button and let AI do the hard stuff!

Generative design is the use of AI to automate product design. It works like this: Engineers define goals and constraints of a problem. Generative software works through the problem from different angles and presents the engineer with potential solutions. Then, the engineer chooses the best one.

For example, say you're designing an office building. You can specify how many desks you'll need, how far apart they should be, how much natural light you want, how many conference rooms you need, what topological or geographic obstacles you'll need to work around and really anything else.;

Generative design software takes that input and creates multiple possible designs that meet those requirements.

This saves time and money by finding ways to design products with as little resources as possible. And it can also come up with designs beyond the biases of human engineers to create almost alien-looking parts and products that fulfill the requirements which is exactly what they did with the iconic Heydar Aliyev Centre in Azerbaijan.

Ben Lutkevich is the site editor for Software Quality. Previously, he wrote definitions and features for Whatis.com.