Fostering Empathy in AI-Driven Co-Creation of CAD Models

Manufacturing paradigms have been evolving along a continuum of product volume and variety, progressing through four key stages: (1) craft production, (2) mass production, (3) mass customization, and (4) regionalized/personalized production. The earliest paradigm (craft production) and the current transformation (regionalized/personalized production) share a fundamental characteristic - high product variety and low product volume. In both cases, co-creation between the customer and the producer is essential. In the co-creation process, high-level product information (i.e., linguistic descriptions of a product) must be translated into machine-readable formats such as CAD models. However, the short design cycle and the lack of necessary tools and expertise in CAD modeling pose significant challenges. This study examines a fundamental issue: how to frame the CAD model creation problem in a way that enables novice users to obtain a desired solution efficiently. Findings indicate that empathetic adaptation provides structured guidelines for iterative prompting, helping novices navigate CAD modeling tasks more effectively. The study thus highlights the potential of Generative AI (GenAI) tools (e.g., ChatGPT) in addressing highly knowledge-intensive challenges within personalized production.