Speaking, as we were last month, about artificial intelligence and its adoption into electronics design and manufacturing, we observed that a current obstacle to implementation is the use by vendors of customer data in order to build their models.

And while vendors insist the data are aggregated and anonymized, said customers, naturally, have been generally circumspect over the perceived cost of the lessons they have learned – often painstakingly – being used to enable competitors, not to mention ultimately paying those same vendors for the courtesy.

To that I will add the musings of Neil Thompson, who is the director of the future tech research project at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Thompson argues that AI systems must not just be capable of performing “human” tasks but also must overcome the costs of implementation, including redesigning processes and methodologies. “There are a lot of places where ... humans are a more cost-efficient way,” he says.

Over the past couple years, via our PCB Chat podcast and webinars, our editors have spoken with a growing number of AI experts across the spectrum of the electronics supply chain. They include:

Artificial intelligence is applied to electronics design and manufacturing is in its infancy, but interest is high and questions abound as to what it means – and even what it is.

AI is seen as similar to the Internet in 1995: a big, wide-open technology that companies had to embrace and understand. Success depends on narrow implementations that permit companies to see clearly what the return or improvements will be.

AI holds the potential to revolutionize the creation and manufacturing of electronic products. Unlocking this potential, however, requires collaborative efforts to ensure its effective understanding and implementation. Without concerted action, the realization of AI's transformative promise in the electronics industry may remain elusive.

To address this challenge, the PCEA Technical Action Group (AI TG) convened a meeting of select representatives of early adopters and providers of AI tools for the electronics sector. The primary aim of this gathering is to solicit input from industry stakeholders to shape an AI Status and Action Plan.