Why do we do this at all? Passion? The sweet feeling that you’re valued in an area that needs a little skill? For me yes. Devaluing the landscape with digital technology just erodes the drive for artists and others who want a hobby that they can share.
Sure there’s a growing niche, i suggest the opportunity to make a website that’s sterile and pumps our perfect models every day is up for some enterprising person (or AI).
The rating and rewards system, especially the Boost system, puts the awarding in the hands of users.
So any model, no matter how they’re created, still needs to be appealing and/or useful, and be actually printable without users having to jump through hoops.
The main concern I can perhaps see is the flooding of the New Uploads pages. But I think that’s something MW can fix easily.
As for creators, imo and for now, if you’re a ‘traditional software’ modeler, then you’ll need to stay ahead of what the AI tools can do well, especially in relation to models that are (reasonably) 3D-printable.
If you’re an AI tool user-creator, then your creations will only be as good as what the tools are capable of, as far as converting your thoughts to (reasonably) 3D-printable models.
If you are both, then power to you for conquering the learning curves 
Also, if history is any guide, eventually the ‘traditional software’ and AI tools will converge and we’re back to competing to be more creative, and more proficient with the tools.
Regardless of the tools used, the issues of copyright and fair use are never ending debates though 
This one for example.
AI is a good tool, but it doesn’t mean AI can do everything. In most cases, AI assists us in making models.
To be honest, I don’t care about how much money I make with my models. That whole points thing is a nice bonus for giving back to the community.
I mainly switched from printables to makerworld, because of the many high quality models available. I guess it is not unlikely that makerworld will soon be flooded with low effort ai content, just to grab a few downloads to get points, which would reduce the value of the site for most users. This would also make it harder to find good things in a sea of garbage.
I think designating any A.I. designs as such is a good thing because the user goes in knowing that: 1. It has not been engineered for quality or performance, 2. It has probably not been tested or refined for better quality or performance, 3. There are no guarantees it will print at all on any machine with any material.
Why waste anybody’s time with a file that doesn’t work, unless the sole purpose is to scam them? If A.I. proves its usefulness without those pitfalls, then and only then I would see no reason to tag those designs.
Is there a website where people can hire people to make models for them? I have no skill or experience with CAD tools and would have no other way then AI for creating models.
You could try Fiverr, I have used it for other stuff before, check people’s ratings there’s a wide range of talent and price levels but sometimes you can find a diamond for a buck. Might be worth doing a little research on Reddit, YouTube and a few other places first.
I totally agree with you. Use AI as an assistant to improve work (if need be). In the end we all want good designs and models and it shouldn’t matter with what help the model was created.
In the 70’s we were al warned about AI. It will find a way to come out we have given it it’s inch. Let it have it’s mile. I myself am old enough to have seen us leave the Earth for the first time then land on the Moon (so they say) I saw TV go from black and white to 36mil color. You don’t get up to change channels, you just say “TV Channel 122” and your off to the SiFi station. We had 3 channels at night, now Heck I don’t even know. My car and truck talks to me. Our combine picked corn by itself. After taking off the 195 flew itself from West KY to Portland OR. I know of lawn mowers you program to mow your yard.( I keep that pleasure for myself) So you see if an AI make some really nice prints, that okay. What you have to do in invent. Let AI draw the monkeys, teddy bear and goofy little things. Get to doing what 3d printing was meant for INVENTING like we never could. because we had to have others make that shaft. Those gears, locks and a million other thing’s that go into REAL THOUGHT.
Calm Seas and Prevailing Winds
RobBob
Whoooaaahh there cowpoke. Lotta ASSumptions goin on there.
You’re putting everyone who would use AI into one big pot and stirring the ■■■■ aren’t ya?
Why does it have to be sub par if it’s done with AI? I’m sure that not all users of AI to create something are doing it for the quick points. As for quality, again an assumption as is performance. I think it’d be better to wait and see how AI could enhance design. It’s not going to take anyones job.
Like Rob_Bob I’ve seen scary things. I remember when robots were going to take over. Digital was going to end music. I was never going to have a calculator in my pocket so I’d better learn to count with my toes.
Point is none of that happened and now robots helped complete my surgery. Music is thriving (as is the sharing) with digital. I have a calculator within reach nearly 24-7.
AI could (if we get over the whole sky is falling nonsense) enhance things like 3D printing once it is developed well enough. What you’re seeing now is consumer AI in it’s infancy, and it is never pretty when they’re infants. All they do is make a mess, right?
So let’s cut down on lumping everyone who is using AI into a “slime” bucket.
I don’t think I’m stirring the pot at all. My wife makes cutesy prints to sit on a shelf or desk that don’t have to be functional or precise in any way, I think all those would be just great AI generated. But if I was someone thinking about downloading the design to print myself, I’d still just want a simple tag indicating it was AI origin and not thunk up by some meat popsicle smarter than myself. Money or Republic Credits or any of that nonsense has nothing to do with it in my mind.
I myself make machine parts and motorcycle parts that need precise tolerances that I design myself. I know if it’s file is posted anywhere online, I no longer own it or would expect compensation for it.
I used Napster and Limewire enough to know how that goes. 
Big difference between machining a part and printing a part. You know how tight tolerances have to be and how accurate your machine has to be. Will never get that from a 3D printer. AI could generate such a precise item and I’d bet if it weren’t labled you wouldn’t know. You can have AI generate a script that can be opened in openscad for editing:
// Variable to select the number of sides
sides = 6; // Change this to 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 20, etc.
// Function to create a regular polygon face
module poly_face(sides, radius) {
rotate([0, 0, 360/sides])
for (i = [0 : sides-1]) {
rotate([0, 0, i360/sides])
translate([radius, 0, 0])
square([radius2, radius*2], true);
}
}
// Function to create the die shape
module dice(sides) {
r = 20; // Radius of the circumscribed circle
h = 15; // Height of the die
// Create the base shape for the die
poly_face(sides, r);
translate([0, 0, -h/2])
for (i = [0 : sides-1]) {
rotate([0, 0, i*360/sides])
translate([0, 0, h/2])
polygon([for (j = [0 : sides-1])
[r * cos(j * 360 / sides), r * sin(j * 360 / sides)]
]);
linear_extrude(height = h)
polygon([for (j = [0 : sides-1])
[r * cos(j * 360 / sides), r * sin(j * 360 / sides)]
]);
}
}
// Function to create numbers on each face
module number_face(face_id) {
// This is a placeholder; in reality, you’d add text or a more complex number placement
translate([0, 0, 0.1]) {
text(str(face_id), size = 6, valign = “center”, halign = “center”);
}
}
module numbered_dice(sides) {
dice(sides);
for (i = [0 : sides-1]) {
rotate([0, 0, i * 360/sides])
translate([0, 0, 7.5])
number_face(i + 1);
}
}
// Render the die
numbered_dice(sides);
No offense, but I knew jest of your reply from the second sentence. Let’s face it, you’ll never use AI and will hold negative opinion no matter what’s put forth. So let’s just agree to disagree and be on our way.
IMO the tolerance thing is a bit irrelevant at least for now. Every manufacturing process/machines has it’s own set of tolerances and constraints.
I think it will always be harder for AI to make functional parts not because of the tolerances but because of accurate dimensions required for them to work regardless of the tolerances.
And for the model to be useful it would be preferable to have parasolid output instead of STL, so we could more easily fine tune a AI generated models for tolerances.
Of course like you shown, AI can already generate code for OpenSCAD but it’s super limited. For now it’s more like a code assistant than a model generator. It can do small things like a D20 but it can’t create more “complex” shapes like a stool for example. Because ChatGpt does comprehend 3D spaces.
All of that to say, I’m more concerned for figurine like models where AI tool like image to model that can create a model in a few sec. And unscrupulous people will and early do abused it.
So will be flood with a lot of low quality models without any optimisations at all because modifying a mesh file requires skills. And you need to understand what are the limitations of the manufacturing process, you want to optimise your model for.
And license infringements will be all over the place from the data set used to train those AI tools and from the unscrupulous user of those AI who will use copyrighted content to generate their model and published them as original.
The licensing aspect alone is a really complex topic. The use of AI tools should be regulated for that reason. And I think adding a label on AI generated content is a small first step in the good direction.
Point taken. Thank you.
25 golden frogs
AI currently affects all sectors, some more positively or negatively than others.
Blocking AI seems like a utopia unless it poses a risk to humankind. It could make sense to make it obligatory to identify if AI created it. But again, it is just making a challenge for someone to overcome.
Until I read this post, I wasn’t aware that AI could provide a complete 3D model.
I design my stuff, but only if they aren’t available in repositories or have enough features to fit my needs. So, getting a model with a prompt seems excellent; yet, at least the free versions seem to fail regarding functional prints, which is what I am looking for. Or my prompts aren’t good enough.
Evolution is so fast that getting this feature seems a matter of time.
Additionally, the number of models available, catalogued and classified in 3D print repositories makes it easier to train a model… On the other hand, the complexity of many models seems out of the scope of hobby AI, as it will demand a large amount of computational resources.
Despite the challenge, I believe great designers can persist… but certainly must reinvent their methods.
Yeah, the ethics thing is tricky. For me, I’m only cool with AI tools that don’t rely on stolen or scraped data. That’s why I stick to stuff like GenYOU and Canva—they seem to [be chill] focus on original work, not pulling from shady sources. Haven’t really found many AIs for 3D modeling that feel like they’re doing the same, which makes me a bit cautious.
That said, AI has big potential, in my opinion. Some tools are already helping speed up workflows and make prototyping easier. If we get ethical AI that can create unique models without crossing any lines, it could really shake up the way we work. For now, though, I’m sticking with tools I trust.