A new phenomenon starts to be interesting among students. When they face any technical problem or when we ask them to suggest solutions for their senior graduation projects, our students tend to abandon direct and economic solutions which may be provided by simple electronic designs or even some simple MEMS techniques. In contrast, they prefer to spend one or two months for coding an Artificial Intelligence-based algorithm in order to create a complicated, less reliable and more expensive system (as it will be provided by some advanced sensors and/or advanced actuators).

We have to teach our students that AI is a powerful tool, they have to learn how to use its algorithms, but they have also to understand when to use its algorithms. Economic and reliable solutions (or designs) are still attractive in most practical engineering fields. In addition; for some linear dynamic systems (maybe with deterministic signals) one student may surprise you by suggesting employing EKF or Particle filter! After you clarify to him that these choices are not adequate for his problem and maybe explaining the difference between Kalman and Particle filters, he may answer: “In any case, I would like to do something with modern title!” in other words “something à la mode” and most of the actual modern titles are starting with “smart”!, as he may also add: I saw this project; it was already achieved in another University in another country!

With time we may have generations of these engineers who tend to give us complicated solutions, just to satisfy their needs of entitling their works by “smart” terms. Thus, we may found ourselves surrounded by a lot of sophisticated “smart” expensive and inessential products. In that case, a little bit of natural and simple life will be requested, being nostalgic to our actual era of simple “stupid” products may not be surprising.

What is your opinion?