by Max MaxfieldOver the past few months, I’ve waffled on (as is my wont) about various flavors (ooh, tasty) of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). On the menu were items like GitHub Copilot, which generates code (throwing in errors and security vulnerabilities for free), and Metabob from Metabob (can you spell “Zen”), which looks at the code generated by GitHub Copilot and takes the bugs and security vulnerabilities out again (to understand recursion, you must first understand recursion).We’ve also discussed other GenAI-based Copilots, like SnapMagic, which can help design engineers pick parts, and Flux.ai, which can help them to design and layout their circuits.Another form of GenAI comes in the form of text-to-image models, such as Stable Diffusion, which can be used to generate detailed images conditioned on text descriptions. It can also be used for related tasks, such as inpainting (where damaged, deteriorated, or missing parts of an artwork are filled in to present a complete image), outpainting (extending an existing image beyond its original canvass), and image-to-image translations.The thing is, until now, we all pretty much took it for granted that GenAI models of this class, capacity, and caliber were destined to be run in the cloud. Can you imagine what it would be like to be able to run something like Stable Diffusion on a USB Drive that plugs into your notepad or laptop computer? I can. Actually, I don’t have to imagine this because I’ve seen it in action (I’ll show you a video later in this column).To be honest, I have a personal interest in being able to generate images from text descriptions. I’m currently writing a small book called The Life (of a Boy Called) Clive (It Rhymes with Five)

For months, Flux has been adding new features and functions to Copilot to help make it the most powerful AI for hardware design in the world.

My podcast guest this week is Mattias Wagner from Flux! Mattias and I investigate the role that AI plays in the Flux PCB design platform. We also delve into the details of the Flux Method, Flux Model and Flux Copilot, and discuss why working smarter not harder is cornerstone to the Flux mission. I also investigate why the discovery of phosphorus in the outer reaches of the galaxy could have major implications for the possibility of alien life. .   . Links for December 8, 2023