A few days ago, I barely knew what traces, pads, and vias were.
Then I started learning how schematics work.
Then I learned the basic path from:
schematic → footprints → placement → routing → manufacturing
And right when I was starting to feel like:
Okay… I can finally see how PCB design works.
I discovered something.
Apparently AI has entered the chat. 😭
And not just in the:
“Ask a chatbot what a resistor does”
kind of way.
There are now tools trying to help with actual parts of the electronics design process.
Schematics.
Component selection.
BOMs.
PCB layout.
Routing.
Design checking.
Even going from a description of what you want to build toward something much closer to a real board.
So obviously I went down the rabbit hole. 🤖💚
First Question: What Does “AI PCB Design” Actually Mean?
When I first heard AI PCB design, my brain immediately imagined this:
“Make me a temperature sensor PCB.”
AI thinks for three seconds.
Boom.
Perfect PCB.
Send it to manufacturing.
😂
Yeah.
It’s not quite that simple.
What I’m starting to understand is that AI can show up at different stages of the electronics workflow.
Some tools seem focused on the beginning:
idea → components → schematic
Others seem more focused on:
existing schematic → PCB layout
And some try to help across several stages.
That distinction matters a lot.
AI Can Help Turn an Idea Into a Schematic
This was probably the part that surprised me the most.
Some AI-assisted tools let you describe what you want to build in normal language.
Something like:
I want a small board with a microcontroller, USB-C power, an LED, and a temperature sensor.
Then the software can help suggest the kinds of components and circuit blocks that might be needed.
That feels very different from the PCB software I originally imagined.
Instead of:
“Here is an empty canvas. Good luck.”
it starts feeling more like:
“Tell me what you're trying to build, and let's work through the structure.”
Which sounds extremely useful for someone who is still learning.
And also slightly dangerous if I blindly trust everything it says. 😭
AI Can Help With Component Selection
This part also makes sense now.
Choosing components apparently involves much more than:
“I need a resistor.”
There are things like:
- voltage ratings
- power ratings
- package size
- availability
- cost
- compatibility
- temperature limits
And probably a lot more that I haven't learned yet. 😂
So AI can potentially help narrow down options or suggest parts based on the requirements of the circuit.
That sounds useful.
But it also creates a new problem:
How do I know whether the suggested component is actually a good choice?
Which means I still need to understand the basics.
Then I Found AI-Assisted PCB Layout
This was the part that made everything I learned about placement and routing suddenly feel much more relevant.
After the schematic, the board still needs:
- component placement
- routing
- layer decisions
- vias
- design constraints
And AI can apparently help with parts of that too.
That doesn’t just mean drawing the shortest line between two pads.
A PCB layout has to consider physical constraints.
Where components sit.
How traces travel.
How crowded the board is.
How many layers are being used.
Whether the design can actually be manufactured.
That is a much bigger problem than I originally thought.
AI Still Has Limits
This is probably the most important thing I learned.
AI PCB tools are not magic.
The board still has to obey electrical rules.
The parts still have to work together.
The traces still have physical properties.
The board still has to be manufacturable.
And eventually...
someone has to power the thing on. 😭
So even if AI helps generate part of the design, that doesn't mean the design is automatically correct.
It still has to be checked.
So What Can AI Actually Help With?
My beginner mental model now looks something like this:
idea
↓
🤖 AI can help understand requirements
↓
🤖 AI can help suggest components
↓
🤖 AI can help create parts of a schematic
↓
schematic
↓
🤖 AI can help with placement and routing
↓
PCB layout
↓
🤖 AI can help check parts of the design
↓
manufacturing files
↓
real PCB
That does not mean one tool does all of those things.
And it definitely doesn't mean every AI-generated board is ready to manufacture.
But now I understand why AI and PCB design fit together.
PCB design contains a lot of decisions, constraints, repetitive work, searching, and optimization.
Those are exactly the kinds of areas where automation can be useful.
But Now I Have a Bigger Question
This is the part I've been thinking about the most.
I'm learning PCB design because I actually want to understand what I'm doing.
So if AI can generate a schematic...
Should I use it before I know how to make one myself?
If AI can route my board...
Should I use it before I understand what makes a route good or bad?
If AI picks a component...
How do I know whether that component actually makes sense?
And I think I'm slowly arriving at an answer.
Maybe the goal shouldn't be to avoid AI.
Maybe the goal should be learning enough that I can question it.
If AI says:
“Use this component.”
I want to understand enough to ask:
Why this one?
If it generates a trace:
Why is it that width?
If it places a capacitor beside a chip:
Why does it need to be there?
If it says the design is ready:
What exactly did it check?
That feels much more useful than either extreme:
“AI should do everything for me.”
or
“Using AI means I'm not actually learning.”
I'm Still Going to Learn the Fundamentals
After discovering all of this, weirdly...
I want to understand traditional PCB design more, not less.
Because now when I learn about footprints, traces, vias, ground planes, routing, or design rules, I'm also learning what the AI is eventually going to be making decisions about.
A few days ago:
PCB = mysterious green rectangle
Then:
PCB = traces + pads + vias
Then:
schematic → layout → manufacturing
And now:
apparently AI wants to help with all of it. 🤖
This escalated quickly. 😂
Tomorrow I'm Actually Trying One
Reading about this is one thing.
Actually trying it is another.
So next I want to use one AI-assisted PCB tool and give it a ridiculously simple challenge.
Something like:
“Make me a tiny LED circuit.”
Then I want to compare what it produces against everything I've learned so far.
Can I understand the schematic?
Can I identify the components?
Do the footprints make sense?
Can I follow the traces?
Can I understand why it made its decisions?
And most importantly...
Can a beginner actually learn PCB design with AI without letting the AI do all the thinking?
Guess I'm about to find out. 😭💚
If you've used AI for electronics or PCB design already, I'm curious:
Did it actually save you time, or did you spend most of that time checking what it did?
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