A team of three: The role of generative AI in the development of design automation systems for complex products

Paper in proceeding, 2025

Given the rise of Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), there is a high interest in their use also in engineering design domain. Current research approaches lack to leverage LLM's new orchestration capabilities and use the LLMs in ways that expose their inherent weaknesses. We present a conceptual model to visualize the contribution of LLMs to design tasks and distribute ownership in the design activities: The triangle of design responsibility. A literature review on the design engineering field presents its current uses in this community. The understanding of the model is validated with industry via survey. We identify future research directions in the field of complex product design. We hope that this model helps design automation developers, researchers and industry practitioners to position and assign responsibility effectively in their design automation implementation.