AI and AM: A Powerhouse Combination

Manufacturers choose three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies for many reasons including the capability to easily create intricate parts, which may not be possible with more traditional manufacturing methods. Additive manufacturing (AM) also brings efficiency and ability to manufacture to scale. Combine AM with another influential technology—artificial intelligence (AI)—and the advantages double, even triple.

Applications of AI and machine learning can be found in prefabrication design, quality assurance & defect detection, material usage control, and predictive maintenance. The trained model that grows from the machine learning process becomes the intellectual property of the manufacturer and must be protected from inadvertent modifications or even intentional attacks. There could be counterfeiters trying to build similar systems by abusing the property of the original maker or there might even be outright saboteurs who want to manipulate what the system can do in practice.

The IP comes in multiple forms: It is the data used originally to train the model, the training setup itself, and the eventual trained model. At each step in this process, intellectual property needs to be protected against theft and piracy, but still be available for legitimate agents to use, process, and reprocess. The manufacturer needs to consider mechanisms to protect the IP generated throughout the process. A security technology like Wibu-Systems’ CodeMeter can be employed to encrypt and sign the data to protect the IP from unauthorized access, copying, or espionage.

Marcellus Buchheit, President and CEO of Wibu-Systems USA, will be a featured panelist on an a live Webinar hosted by Melissa Donovan, Editor Digital Output/Industrial Print, Industrial Print Magazine and Rockport Custom Publishing, LLC. Marcellus will be joined on the panel by Andre Wegner, Founder/CEO Authentise.