topic Re: Autoconstraint, AI? in Fusion Design, Validate & Document Forum

Autoconstraint, AI?

admaiora — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 20:15:31 GMT

Hi, I don't understand why the new Autoconstraint tool is being advertised and presented as an AI tool when it's really, at best, just a smart or automated function. It's more similar to an "intelligent" algorithm than to real AI in the modern sense—it's not based on deep learning or predictive models. I understand that calling it "AI" is a marketing move because it "does things on its own," but in this case, given the results, it's a bit of a stretch to label this tool as AI. It would be more accurate to describe it as intelligent automation. Inventor has done something similar—maybe less refined—for years. In a real-world scenario, this kind of auto-dimensioning is, in my opinion, basically useless and only adds confusion for users.

Re: Autoconstraint, AI?

bwalker145 — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 20:39:10 GMT

I don't care what they call it, I just wish they'd let me remove it from the toolbar (or at least hide it in an existing container); toolbar/ribbon space is already at a premium, without the addition of forced-features. I appreciate the updates & additions the Fusion team consistently makes, and I'm sure someone finds it useful, but I don't see this as a value-added function in a professional environment.

Re: Autoconstraint, AI?

Drewpan — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 03:25:19 GMT

Hi,

This function was put in to assist beginners who struggle with constraints at the

best of times. The problem is that Beginners SHOULD NOT actually use it because

they will not learn about constraints and about when to use which constraint when

a different one is not appropriate. Prior to this "innovation" fusion did AutoConstrain

some things and while they were fine in most cases, sometimes they needed to

be removed because they affected other constraints that were REQUIRED.

The other problem is that it encourages complex sketches. A sketch should be simple

and only do one or two things. Use the Tools for sculpting the model. Simple sketches

are much easier to constrain and using the tools causes far less instability.

Cheers

Andrew

Re: Autoconstraint, AI?

TrippyLighting — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 13:31:55 GMT

@bwalker145 wrote:

... I don't see this as a value-added function in a professional environment.

Yep, I could not agree more!

Re: Autoconstraint, AI?

TheCADWhisperer — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 13:46:50 GMT

If it was actually intelligent - it would be useful, but it is pretty dumb in actual practice.