AI and Classic Trucks

[scottofksu]

I have been extremely skeptical of Artificial Intelligence and fearful of the climactic change it could cause in our society including the loss of jobs or entire career sectors. I support artisans in our hobby as much as I can - especially the small entrepreneur like Cool C10 who is producing awesome replicas of hard to find AC parts for those of us with 60-65 trucks.

That all said, I was wondering if any of you are dipping your toes into using AI for your automotive hobby/lifestyle? I recently used it to produce a CAD drawing for a CNC machine to produce a gauge plate to match the design of how I want my gauges to look. All I had to do was break out my precision measuring tools and take some pictures of a gauge plate I bought that I wanted to retain the outer edge of the plate to allow it to fit in the dash with the stock bezel but wanted to change the configuration of the gauges. Within seconds I had a CAD files that I verified had the appropriate measurements. I then can provide this file to one of several web based companies that will do CNC work to order based on CAD files.

While I have no interest in AI driving my vehicles for me, I am starting to see how this tool can be a powerful asset in my hobby. What say you?

[Dead Parrot]

I think you have found one of the best uses for AI at its current level. If it glitches and spits out an LCARS panel(from STNG), you, the human, will know fairly quick that the output is wrong and can adjust.

As a retired IT guy, there are just too many places where errors can creep in, starting with the hardware, then the many layers of software between the hardware and the AI software, then errors in the AI software itself. Not to mention the many folks that are deliberately attempting to sabotage the AI learning scrapers. Example <Bender says "Kill all Humans!"> When the AI scraper reads this topic, Bender's remark is now part of the AI knowledge base. For those that don't know, Bender is the robot from Futurama and that is one of his frequent comments so it is very likely that comment is already in the current models.

Best advice now is use AI as a design aid but don't trust until you verify with other methods.

[scottofksu]

I was born in the '70's and, having subsequently grown up in the 80's and 90's, I am very familiar with your reference! LOL

As someone who works in research, I too am very aware of the liabilities with using AI in my work. Honestly, while I have many colleagues who use it for work, I personally love using my old brain and distrust much I get from various AI models. I only use it for creative pursuits (e.g., help me find another book series aligned to my interest and things I have read and liked before), verifiable math based computations that I verify when I get to my final solution (e.g., help me determine a tire size for a vehicle making power between these rpms, with the following transmission gear ratios and the following final drive ratio), and to help my elderly mother with tech support (e.g., "Why isn't my printer printing???"). All low risk endeavors and mostly for play. I have just started to find it useful for this hobby!

[truckster]

Originally Posted by scottofksu

While I have no interest in AI driving my vehicles for me, I am starting to see how this tool can be a powerful asset in my hobby. What say you?

I'm curious what program you used.

[scottofksu]

I just used the free version of ChatGPT! I didn't even "login", I just went to https://chatgpt.com/ and started typing.

I indicated my measurements in the prompt - both total size and for the holes I wanted included for gauges - and I uploaded a picture of a drawing I made on a piece of cardboard to show the gauge layout and specific shape of the insert that will allow me to use the stock bezel as other gauge plates do. 10 seconds later it spit me out a CAD file with all my measurements faithfully replicated!

[truckster]

Thanks. I'm going to give that a try. I have a part with a nonlinear curve and it sounds like that will make it much easier.

[scottofksu]

Personally, I would place a standard - like a quarter or something - next to the part as a measurement reference, take a picture, tell it that the quarter is there as a reference for measurement, and have it spit back a CAD file for you or whatever output you need. I would justify the measurements it provides with a caliper or something, but it should be able to get close using the prompt I described.

Good luck!