AI and 3D printing: When technologies collide, and something interesting happens (Paul Wallis, October 16, 2026, Digital Journal)
In a decade or so, 3D printing has gone from limited printing materials and comparatively simple designs to a virtual sector-wide DIY Renaissance.
3D printing has always needed and will need more contextual space for its ideas, more processing power, more and better materials, etc. This is where AI comes in. Processing and managing high data loads, vectors, and specifications are where the very high-grunt scientific form of AI excels.
These two almost new areas of science are growing up fast, and the future is looking limitless. 3D people, please excuse an unavoidable level of superficiality at this point, because there’s a lot to cover.
At the 3D production level, AI is already making itself very useful. It’s working in areas like managing large numbers of printers, predicting failures, design optimization, and practical things like additive manufacturing.