Comment by jigsawdesigner
2 days ago
You're right that physical context is crucial. However, mathematically, PCB routing is a Graph Theory optimization problem that falls into the NP-hard complexity class (related to the Steiner Tree problem). Traditional solvers rely on heuristics (like A* or annealing) because finding an exact mathematical solution is computationally intractable for complex boards. My point about AI—specifically Graph Neural Networks (GNNs)—isn't about bypassing the learning process. It's about using statistical approximation to handle these high-dimensional topological constraints more effectively than human intuition or standard heuristics can. It's not 'lazy'; it's applying a modern computational lens to an unsolvable deterministic problem.
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