/ ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:
UNIVERSAL IMPACT ON PRODUCT DESIGN
By Karen Field, Vice President, Avnet Content Marketing
Artificial intelligence (AI) went mainstream in 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT. It's now on track for rapid growth.
In the latest Avnet Insights survey, conducted in November 2024, we explored how engineers are using AI in the design process and incorporating AI into the products they design.
The survey generated responses from 1,204 engineers across Asia (including Japan), EMEA and the Americas. Respondents' job titles included software (41%), electronics, hardware and mechanical engineering (31%) and engineering management (27%). All major industry sectors were represented, with nearly half of respondents employed in Information Computing and Telecommunications (ICT).
One of the survey’s key findings is the high percentage of engineers working on current and future products that are AI-enabled: Eight out of 10 electronics engineers surveyed have products on the market today that feature AI (42%) or are working on incorporating AI into future product designs (40%).
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BEST DESCRIBES HOW YOUR COMPANY IS INCORPORATING AI INTO THE PRODUCTS YOU ARE DESIGNING TODAY?
OF ENGINEERS SURVEYED...
have products today that feature AI or are working on new designs that will feature AI.
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Highest adoption of AI will be in process automation
According to our survey, engineers predict the highest rate of adoption for AI will be in process automation (42%), which comes as no surprise as companies increasingly are evaluating AI tools to improve efficiency, reign-in cost, and streamline operations and routine tasks. Second is predictive maintenance (28%), followed by fault/anomaly detection (27%)—two applications for AI that are growing in popularity in industrial environments. As companies continue to chase manufacturing efficiency, the ROI of new technologies like AI that automate or streamline tasks can often easily justify the investment. That’s been the case with Intenet of Things (IoT) technology, which is becoming almost synonymous with AI today. Note that service industries like finance, which is expected to rely heavily on AI in the future, were excluded from the survey.
WHAT ARE THE 3 EMBEDDED AI-ENABLED FUNCTIONS YOU SEE HAVING THE HIGHEST ADOPTION RATES IN THE FUTURE?
OF ENGINEERS SURVEYED...
predict that process automation will have the highest adoption rate.
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AI tools will impact the entire product design process
AI’s role in supporting specific tasks across the product design process—from code generation to simulation—is expanding as engineers develop experience with new AI tools. When asked what AI trend would most significantly impact product design, engineers’ responses were as across-the-board as the tools themselves—from rapid prototyping to AI-driven testing. Autonomous design and decision-making at 10% ranked first, but responses were distributed across most of the tasks.
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING EMERGING AI TRENDS DO YOU BELIEVE WILL HAVE THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON THE DESIGN OF PRODUCTS?
Note: No one trend dominated, engineers were all over the place in their opinions.
OF ENGINEERS SURVEYED...
think AI will increase the automation of design tasks.
Note: No one trend dominated, engineers were all over the place in their opinions.
OF ENGINEERS SURVEYED...
think AI will increase the automation of design tasks.
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Engineers turning to AI for answers to technical questions
We asked engineers which AI tools they use when they’re seeking information during the design and development process. Perhaps not surprisingly, ChatGPT (64%) is still hanging on to its first-mover advantage and topped the list, but Google Gemini (52%), Microsoft Copilot (47%) and Meta AI (43%) were not far behind. Some 6% reported that they do not use any AI tools to answer technical questions.
WHAT IF ANY TOOLS ARE YOU USING TO ANSWER TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DURING THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESS?
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View the complete survey results.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen Field
Vice President, Avnet Content Marketing
Karen leads the content and digital design teams for Avnet’s corporate marketing group. Previously, she held several senior management positions in the electronics information services industry at Questex, Informa, and UBM, heading up editorial teams for well-known B2B brands including EE Times and EDN. She is a former design engineer with a mechanical engineering degree and MBA. She is a strong advocate for women in engineering and a supporter of STEM education, most notably launching a website targeting makers in K-12 classrooms and serving as a mentor for the Science Club for Girls in Cambridge, MA.