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calculuschild t1_j63s962 wrote

While the actual manufacture is indeed limited by the real world, we shouldn't gloss over the fact that simulations (and AI/machine learning has already demonstrated that in some cases it can simulate complex scenarios faster than traditional slow, Finite-element algorithms) and digital design (CAD, aided by genetic algorithms, etc) can help us speed through a lot of the steps that traditionally could only be done in 'meat space'.

Right now a lot of that digital process is still hanging on a lot of the same things you already mentioned (slow humans, politics, beurocracy, need to test prototypes, etc), but I think at some point, a lot of that will go away too due to automation in those sectors. Not to mention AI can probably start chipping away at factory/manufacture lead times with better planning and logistics than humans could ever come up with.

TL;DR if the AI gives you the plans and it still takes 10 years to build, we can't forget about the 25 years it saved already by transferring a bunch of meat space tasks into a digital equivalent.

But yes, your point is very important to keep in mind. Meat space is agonizingly slow compared to the digital world.

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