AI & text-to-CAD
AI copilot
Definition
An AI copilot is an assistant built into CAD software that answers questions, suggests commands or best practices, and sometimes runs small tasks from a chat panel. Copilots help with the workflow around a model, and most do not generate a finished part from scratch.
Also known as: CAD copilot, AI assistant, AI advisor, design copilot
Updated
What copilots do#
Most CAD vendors now ship or preview one. Onshape describes its AI Advisor as built into the design workspace, suggesting best practices, relevant features, and troubleshooting tips based on the conversation. Other examples include SolidWorks AURA, Autodesk Assistant in Fusion, and Siemens NX AI Chat.
The useful test is what a copilot can change. Answering "how do I make a flange" is documentation help. Running commands in your model is automation. Generating editable geometry from a description is text-to-CAD. Vendors use the same label for all three.
Sources
Related terms
LLM
An LLM is a large neural network trained on text to predict and generate language. In CAD, LLMs are used to write modeling code, drive a CAD program's API, answer software questions, or translate a prompt into structured modeling steps.
MCP
MCP is an open-source protocol for connecting AI applications to external tools, data, and workflows. In CAD it is used to let an LLM call a CAD program such as OpenSCAD, FreeCAD, or Fusion, run modeling commands, and read back results instead of generating geometry blind.
Text-to-CAD
Text-to-CAD is AI that turns a natural-language description into editable CAD geometry, such as a STEP file, a parametric model, or CAD code. The goal is a model with exact faces and dimensions that can be modified and manufactured, not just a shape that looks right on screen.