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Can We Trust AI in a Product’s Lifecycle Path?

July 21, 2025
Can we trust AI in our design and products? Electronic Design’s AI Takeover Week explores this heavyweight question.

It’s no longer rumors or rumblings of its use—artificial intelligence (AI) is overwhelming every aspect of our digital lives, work or otherwise. Most newer consumer products tout AI. And a majority of companies already use it in all aspects of operation, or they’re at least testing it out. It’s impacting our engineering life.

Let me give you an example from an NVIDIA GPU Summit experience I had.

I can’t say who this company is, but one small software design group’s owner demands that all of their developers use AI to augment their work. This company’s star senior software developer refused to use it, saying they could write better code. Since this person was their “ace,” they let that mandate slide.

The owner said over time that AI was boosting the overall accuracy and output of their junior devs to just a few rungs below that of the “star ace.” Overall, the output wasn’t as good as the star ace, but the volume was sizable. The owner then demanded the star ace to use AI, to no avail. The owner fired the star ace on the spot.

I can’t say that AI use might be the make or break for anyone’s career. But I can say that AI will be introduced somewhere in your design process or product operation at some point by someone. It’s inevitable.

Addressing these topics, our AI Takeover Week explores what’s out there, how companies are embracing it, and its potential ramifications. We look at AI in the process of design, manufacturing, and operation of products. And we attempt to answer the question of whether it can be trusted along the product lifecycle path.

You may have a strong opinion on the matter, one way or another. I encourage you to share your thoughts on each of the pieces in the series. I want to know your thoughts!

In the meantime, take our first poll question now (below), and the second after you've had a chance to peruse all of the articles (and view the videos).

This Week's Articles on AI and Product Design

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Artificial intelligence is changing everything about tech jobs, and if workers aren’t adapting or evolving with it, they could be on their way out.
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Innovations in assistive AI and, ultimately, increased autonomy with agentic AI will redefine what engineers can achieve within the chip design cycle.
ECM PCB Stator
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Designers can say goodbye to hurdles in motor design with the help of AI-driven CAD tools.
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When technology seamlessly integrates into our lives, it becomes the norm. We haven’t reached that point with AI yet, but the roadmap is clear and the waypoints identified. It...
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AI is now used in the development of instrumentation, but can you trust it?
Bosch Rexroth
PLC devices serve as a critical bridge in manufacturing between AI insights and physical process execution.
I asked Bosch Rexroth’s Garrett Wagg the question noted in the headline, and he offered his thoughts on automated processes, control systems, and more.
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Trusted, rugged embedded hardware enables reliable, real-time AI in mission-critical applications like defense, aerospace, and autonomous systems by ensuring secure, resilient...
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AI is vying for circuit and embedded-system design jobs, but in 2025, it still requires a seasoned engineer to ride shotgun.
377411649 © Elena Savitskaia - Dreamstime.com
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Harness the power of AI on the edge with the latest SBCs that pack serious machine-learning hardware under the hood. Here’s a look at our top midyear picks.

Videos: A Look at NanoEdge AI Studio

Anomaly Detection Using AI
How is AI being used today? We talk with STMicroelectronics about implementing it in designs with NanoEdge AI Studio.
NanoEdge AI Studio Live Demo
This tutorial demo is your “hello world” for designing with AI.

"Can We Trust AI" eBook

We are putting together an eBook collecting together the articles listed above. It will be completed shortly, so check back for the download link.

About the Author

Cabe Atwell | Technology Editor, Electronic Design

Cabe is a Technology Editor for Electronic Design. 

Engineer, Machinist, Maker, Writer. A graduate Electrical Engineer actively plying his expertise in the industry and at his company, Gunhead. When not designing/building, he creates a steady torrent of projects and content in the media world. Many of his projects and articles are online at element14 & SolidSmack, industry-focused work at EETimes & EDN, and offbeat articles at Make Magazine. Currently, you can find him hosting webinars and contributing to Electronic Design and Machine Design.

Cabe is an electrical engineer, design consultant and author with 25 years’ experience. His most recent book is “Essential 555 IC: Design, Configure, and Create Clever Circuits

Cabe writes the Engineering on Friday blog on Electronic Design. 

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