I found the article and experimental process of evaluation interesting, thanks for sharing Metin. I was already somewhat familiar with OpenSCAD so the mechanics of using an LLM to drive it made some sense, but does seem at odds with the human joy of the creative process. Regardless of whether one likes it or not though, the revolutions of AI are lapping at many foundations, so it seems worthwhile to stay informed at the least. Patrick's thought about timing was a bit startling, but from what I've been watching, somewhat plausible.

"So when does text-to-CAD become a commonly used tool for mechanical engineers? With start-ups actively building products and the rapid improvement of frontier models, my guess would be something like 6-24 months."

Coincidentally I just finished reading Henry Kissinger's final book "Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit". I'd not read any of his work and would not have thought that a statesman in his 90s would be authoritative in this evolving field. Wrong I was, with co-authors Eric Schmidt and Craig Mundie, this is a very good read, not just about AI but about how some are looking at deploying it in high level contexts like governance, law, and economics. Kissinger's lifetime of statesmanship provides good grounding against what seems like highfalutin fantasy, and yet he is optimistic about its application to our world.

--Larry