Since 2020, Dassault Systèmes has been hosting 3DEXPERIENCE World, an event that brings together SOLIDWORKS users to connect, develop their 3D software skills, and celebrate technological advancement. Complete with keynote speeches, hundreds of informational sessions, and an exhibition floor, the event is designed to inspire people with the capabilities of the SOLIDWORKS portfolio. This year, 3DEXPERIENCE World took place in Houston, Texas, from February 1-4.
Unsurprisingly, AI took center stage at the show. On Tuesday, February 3, Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA announced that they were partnering to build industrial AI platforms to power virtual twins. Throughout the event, SOLIDWORKS CEO Manish Kumar and Dassault Systèmes CEO Pascal Daloz made it clear that AI was not going to be an “add-on” to Dassault Systèmes capabilities, but at the core of the engineering technology. The CEO and Founder of NVIDIA, the high-profile Jensen Huang, gave a keynote speech and press conference on the second day of the event to further discuss the partnership.
Digital twins powered by Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA
AI Agents Powered by NVIDIA
According to Dassault Systèmes, the new AI capabilities will be based on “science-validated world models,” which “position industrial AI as a mission-critical system of record, not a point solution.” Additionally, this platform, accelerated by NVIDIA, is “grounded in science by Dassault Systèmes, expanding long-term value creation across biology, materials science, engineering and manufacturing, through a new way of working: skilled virtual companions.”
During Monday’s keynote speech, Kumar and Daloz introduced these companions, or AI agents. There’s Aura (which stands for Assisting YoU to Realize your Ambitions – a name the agent chose for itself), Leo (named for Leonardo DaVinci), and Marie (named for Marie Curie).
- Aura is designed for project management. It is meant to help users begin and manage projects, with logistics and business practices in mind. This agent can help you understand the impact of changes before they become a problem, enabling faster decisions and fewer surprises.
- Leo is programmed for engineering questions. It is supposed to deal with the engineering mission, providing mechanical and structural knowledge to make a design work.
- Marie is there for the scientific mission. It knows the scientific disciplines, like chemistry, and understands formulas that will impact the desired outcome of a project.
Manish Kumar introduces the AI agents: Aura, Leo, and Marie.
Remarkably, this artificial intelligence will be able to create 3D mesh out of 2D images, making it possible for users to share a drawing and have it become a 3D sketch. It can generate the geometry, complete performance analyses, and continue rapid iterations, helping engineers explore a wide range of design possibilities.
These AI agents are rolling out gradually, with Aura already available, Leo coming in the middle of the year, and Marie following sometime after that. Dassault Systèmes was not explicit about the release dates. Dassault Systèmes’ customers are also guaranteed data privacy, intellectual property protection, and sovereignty while using these integrations. Additionally, these AI agents will be informed by the knowledge and know-how of the companies and people that use them.
The Virtual Twin and Democratizing Simulation
These AI assistants will also influence the development of virtual twins. “The virtual twin is not a static model,” Daloz explained. “It’s a living representation of how something behaves across the entire lifecycle. The virtual world is no longer just representing the real world. It is generating it.” And beyond individual objects, Dassault envisions virtual twins being created for entire manufacturing ecosystems, enabling the whole factory floor to be modeled through generative design.
Furthermore, users will be able to chat with the AI agents, using natural language, to conduct simulations on these virtual twins. Before, performing simulations required a deeper level of expertise, but the idea is that these AI companions will lower the barrier to entry. For instance, a user could ask what kinds of simulations should be run on an object, and the AI can suggest the simulations and run them. Think drop tests, squeeze tests, etc. Now, they can simulate structure, fluid, electromagnetic, motion, and vibro-acoustic dynamics.
Quelling Anxiety Around AI
With all of the capabilities AI is offering, people are having questions (and fears) about how the technology will affect their jobs and their craft. Will they be replaced by AI? In the 3DEXPERIENCE World’s opening speech, Kumar offered reassurance: “Some tasks will shrink,” he said. “Some roles will change. Having said that, I believe the relevance of you, the engineers, the value you bring, must not be understated. AI is just a multiplier. You are the value. The coming wave of AI-enabled innovation will make your judgment, your craft, and your ability to work in the physical world even more important. AI is just an engine, you are the driver.”
Following Kumar’s opening speech, Tech Futurist Pablos Holman gave the day’s keynote presentation. Similarly, he spoke highly of the new technology’s potential, and called for everyone to “boycott dystopia.”
Pablos Holman spoke about the transformative power of artificial intelligence.
“I think we got off on the wrong foot, for the first round of AI in the last few years,” Holman said. “We’re freaking ourselves out with all these crazy stories. We’re using AI for the dumbest things we can think of. Now is the time to course correct. Now, we’re building AI for science, for engineering.”
The next day, Huang also addressed concerns about engineers losing their jobs to AI. “Every designer, every software engineer will have [AI] companions that help them,” Huang said in a press conference after his keynote. “The more AI companions you have, the more virtual seats you will have. The number of [AI] agents is going to grow exponentially…but they don’t have to have seats. Engineers have seats, and our seats are going to be fine.”
AI as an Infrastructure
Ultimately, 3DEXPERIENCE World painted a picture in which the presence of AI in manufacturing and engineering is not only inevitable, but vital. In his speech, Huang explained that they are “reinventing the computing stack.” Instead of relying on structured representations of designs (where users manually specify the geometry, materials, etc.), they will now have a generative computer model handle that work. Huang stated:
“Because AI is foundational to every single industry, it is going to become an infrastructure. Just as water is an infrastructure, electricity is an infrastructure, internet is an infrastructure. Every single industry needs to build it. Every single country will be powered by it. Every society will have it. This is the beginning of a new industrialization.”
Building this infrastructure will require an incredible amount of energy. When asked about it during the press conference, Huang replied: “We now have a very large market force to enhance the power generation of the world. Remember, sustainable energy had a very difficult time taking off because the market-driven forces were weak. There were social forces, not market-driven forces. And it’s great to have social reasons and climate change reasons to do it, but nothing is more powerful than having the market-driven forces to do it…So now, for the very first time, we have a substantial, gigantic market force that is going to enhance the sustainable energy capabilities around the world.”
The AI agents aim to make design more accessible.
You can learn more about the partnership between Dassault Systèmes and NVIDIA here. What do you think of the new AI capabilities? Let us know in a comment below or on our LinkedIn or Facebook pages! Plus, don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter to get the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox. You can also find all our videos on our YouTube channel.
*All Photo Credits: Dassault Systèmes