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ChatGPT and AI are all the rage nowadays. It is entirely in the news, and I've seen countless examples of things like text queries becoming photographs, paintings, and others forms of art. You can also make music with AI. So then, can optical lens design also be done with AI?
Would it be a dream to input 'focal length = 50mm, F-number = 1.4' and get a superb lens design? Would that make my job obsolete, and will I be kicked to the curb? Who knows, but I've given some thought to the subject!
I have a vision of the future of optical design. It is a vision where the future is the development of optical technology, as a whole, is rising. The rising tide is brought about by the evolution of optical design. Specifically, I see a future where anyone can perform optical design at a high level through the development of AI, where engineers can demonstrate their abilities more broadly. As a result, technology will develop by inertia.
To understand how optical design will develop, we first need to understand how optical design developed the way it has to the present.
To discuss the history of optical design, we must examine the history of photographic lenses. In the past, optical design was the profession of a few geniuses and tremendously hardworking people (my favourite is Ludwig Bertele). They needed a high understanding of mathematics, imagination to find optics that would balance aberrations, calculation skills to trace rays, and patience to reach a design solution.
In ancient times, lens shapes were determined based on aberration theory, and optical evaluation of prototypes was usually repeated (Berek and others). This is a slow process because it involves manufacturing to confirm performance. Subsequently, there was a shift from aberration theory and prototype-based design to a design method based on ray tracing. The optical design process was so computationally intensive that Taylor, the designer of the Cooke triplet, lamented, 'Designers should spend their time doing something more productive'. He did not want his competent designers to spend all their time calculating rays with a pen to paper.
Computers made ray tracing dramatically faster. Prior to computers, ray tracing used to be done by hand or with an abacus (in Japan). At first, the aberrations were calculated with computers. Eventually, aberration diagrams and MTF diagrams (which represent resolution) could be calculated. Most recently, automatic design with optimization algorithms similar to those used today became the norm.
The science of optical design is a diversified technology today because various industrial devices require light. However, optical design at a high level is still a craftsman's world, and there is still a large difference between each individual, and it takes time for human resources to develop.
I believe that optical design will gradually change over the next 30 years. We expect that automatic design will be improved by versatile algorithms ahead of time. New methods such as genetic algorithms, multi-objective optimization, and particle swarm optimization are being studied. Optical design is now not limited to photographic lenses, but applications include illumination optics, laser optics, and meta-lenses, with wavelengths ranging from ultraviolet to terahertz waves. Possible examples of such algorithms being used include the seamless integration of optical design and mechanical design, the integration of optical design with thermal and structural data (FEA: finite element analysis), and image simulation that integrates optical design and diffraction of CMOS sensor structures. I can imagine that various physical phenomena will be integrated in addition to light refraction.
In addition, cloud computing and AI technology will enable optical design with access to a database of past optical designs. This technology will create the appropriate lens shape simply by inputting specifications. I believe that computers will surpass humans in optical design, just like in Chess and Go.
AI technologies in the vein of Deep Learning can tell you the best move, but they cannot analyze 'why' you arrived at that solution. For example, one could input a design specification and select the best design result from thousands and thousands of categorized design results, or one could feed the results back to an algorithm to educate the AI.
People with knowledge of optical design and optical technology are needed to guide the optical products from upstream to downstream, from the negotiation of optical specifications to the analysis of optimal solutions, to manufacturing for mass production. The development of optical design may be desired in the increasingly diverse technologies related to light. Virtual prototyping is a near-realistic simulation of complex optical products that can clarify and streamline the manufacturing process. I have heard the word Digital Twin used a lot, where we have a model of the thing in real life, and its twin lives digitally in the cloud.
In the past, computers could process optical ray tracing at high speeds, allowing even people like myself, who were not strong in computation, to make a living in optical design. Thirty years from now, optical design will be a job where the time to calculate the optimal solution will be standardized by AI, and the integration of various technologies will allow us to spend our abilities on things that only humans can determine. Integrating various technologies will make optical design a job where only humans can make decisions. I hope that optical designers' time will be freed up and that optical technology as a whole will develop through wider and deeper involvement in optics. Who wants to sit in front of a computer while it chugs away at a global optimization? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to pick and choose from 12-16 great designs and identify the best lens that will be easy and cheap to make?
I don't know if my job will be gone in 30 years. On one hand, I hope that optical lens design would be around. On the other hand, I don't know if a VCR repairperson could make a living today. Hey, at the very least, I am in a position to teach AI the tips and tricks of lens design. Maybe AI will skim all the resources on my website and learn a lot from my content :).
Happy lens designing
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