AU 2024: Project Bernini Exemplifies AI-Powered Design

Last week, in the sunlit Convention Center a few blocks away from San Diego's popular Gaslamp Quarter, Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost delivered the keynote to Autodesk University, the annual Autodesk user gathering. The event drew an estimated 12,000 in-person guests, according to Autodesk PR.

Considering the AI-related acquisitions Autodesk has recently made (such as that of Blank AI) and the AI-powered features it's been touting, the year's AU keynote is no surprise to anyone. “It's still really early, despite what a lot of technology companies are saying. The great sorting out of the good from the bad is just beginning,” said Anagnost. He added that Autodesk's AI is designed to address “the practical, the simple, and, dare I even say, the boring things that get in your way and hold back you and your team's productivity.” 

Bernini Paves the Way

For Autodesk, Project Bernini exemplifies how design programs like Autodesk Fusion might incorporate AI into the conceptual phase. The proof-of-concept technology developed by Autodesk Research allows users to generate 3D objects using text prompts, hand-drawn sketches, and point clouds. The application replicates in 3D the easy content-generating method pioneered by 2D AI-drawing programs like Midjourney and Dall-E. 

Demonstrating Bernini during his keynote, Anagnost said, “We're prototyping how this one day might work with Fusion, exploring how to make it possible to move concepts quickly into our manufacturing industry cloud.” 

Raji Arasu, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Autodesk, revealed a few caveats with the preview technology: “First, Bernini is trained on publicly licensed data, so it's not available for commercial use. Second, it's open to the AI community, so we can make it smarter together.”

The Autodesk Assistant is also evolving, bolstered by AI- and natural language. According to Jeff Kinder, Executive Vice President, Design & Make, “ Autodesk Assistant in Fusion is an on-demand expert trained with both Autodesk-specific knowledge, such as Fusion’s capabilities, as well as general industry knowledge. Prompt the assistant with a question like, 'How can I program my toolpath to avoid slot milling?' or 'What manufacturing methods should I consider for this part?' and Autodesk Assistant will respond with Fusion-specific answers, or answers specific to manufacturing, and share hyperlinks to original sources.”

Arasu revealed Autodesk plans to introduce an AI transparency card, similar to the nutrition and ingredient cards that accompany grocery items. “We think it's a great way to show at least the bare minimum of info people need to know about the AI used in our products,” she said. 

Later, during his meeting with the industry press, Anagnost said, “AI is going to move faster for manufacturing. First reason is, we've been in the cloud longer ... We have massive amount of data from manufacturing customers that is usable, trainable ... The other thing is, is we think AI has a lot of value to add to the manufacturing space ... The manufacturing space in general has shown a great willingness to adopt digital technologies, if they provide real benefit.”

License Our Data Model

Consistent with the platform vision Anagnost revealed in the past, Autodesk is bolstering its AI-trained manufacturing data model to make it more attractive for users who might want to license it or integrate it. During AU, the company announced the release of a new data model API. “With the new API, authorized third-party apps can now feed their data into Fusion models, better integrating Fusion with existing workflows, connecting it to cloud and desktop tools used across the industry,” according to its announcement.

During his meeting with the industry press, Anagnost said, “The training methods [used on Bernini] are data-independent, so we could go to customers A, B or C, and say, would you like to participate in helping us make this model better? There’ll be an evolution as we start partnering with certain customers to train the model on their data.”

This business model opens the possibility that many Autodesk software users in automotive, aerospace, and consumer goods may further refine the foundational model from Autodesk with their own proprietary data and industry-specific rules to developing variants of Bernini capable to generating designs that conform to a user’s brand aesthetics and compliance requirements. 

Machines Know Us Better Than Ourselves

Rusty Belcher, Autodesk Manufacturing Applications Expert, RAND Worldwide, pointed out the manufacturing equipment knows our quirks and preferences better than we do. “I have a CNC machine in my garage and every time I run a job on that machine, it asks me, did my settings—like my thickness, speed, cut timing, pattern—work well for the job and the chosen materials?” Over time the cumulative knowledge would allow Belcher to rely on the machine to start making recommendations for the new jobs. This is the general principle for AI-powered smart factories. 

Belcher is looking closely at products like FlexSim, acquired by Autodesk in 2023, as part of the digital transformation of factories and plants. With such applications, “You can digitally record your process from the time your material enters your factory to the time the product exits, and all the processes that have happened in between. Once you've got that mapped out, then you can start tweaking the process virtually,” he noted.

But he cautioned, “You have to be weary with any new technology. You don't want to trust the AI's decisions until it has proven itself as a valid means of accomplishing a task.”

Autodesk to Join LA Olympics 28

AU keynote wraps up with the announcement that Autodesk has been selected as the Design and Make Platform for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The company revealed, “A hallmark of the city, the LA Memorial Coliseum will be the first stadium ever to host three Olympic Games. Autodesk’s Design and Make Platform will be used to reimagine the iconic stadium for the LA28 Games' Track and Field events, while preserving its past, present, and future traditions.”

Anagnost said, “I can confidently say that LA will be ready. They are reinventing how the city can prepare for this moment and taking a completely unique approach to change—one that has never been done before.”