Karl D.D. Willis of Autodesk Research, Ryan McClelland of NASA, Caitlin Mueller of MIT and Duann Scott of CDFAM have submitted a proposal for a panel at SXSW 2026 exploring the intersection of generative AI, computational design, and physical manufacturing, we need your vote to help make the panel at SXSW a reality!
Generative AI has reshaped how we create text, images, and 3D content. But its potential to generate things that can be built products, machines, buildings, infrastructure, remains largely unrealized.
This panel, Building Reality: Generative AI for the Physical World, brings together experts working at the edge of this transformation to discuss how machine learning, algorithmic design, and digital fabrication are enabling the translation of computational output into physical matter. Topics will include:
Design-to-build workflows integrating AI and fabrication
Bridging simulation and optimization with real-world constraints
The role of data in physical generative systems
Barriers and foundational work still needed
The goal is to move the conversation beyond speculative demos and synthetic media, toward the very real challenges of applying generative methods in engineering, design, and construction.
This is part of a broader effort to bring the physical implications of AI out of the research and prototyping bubble and into mainstream discourse.
You can help by voting for our session on the SXSW Panel Picker:
Vote Here
We’ll share more if the session is accepted, and hope to see many of you at SXSW in Austin next year. Thanks in advance for your support.
If you're interested in the real-world application of computational design, AI, and advanced manufacturing, take a look at the upcoming CDFAM NYC 2025 program.
We’re bringing together researchers, engineers, and software developers working at the intersection of computation and fabrication.
Early bird registration is now open, time is compressing, space is limited.