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OCTOBER 2026 I I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE 49 fabrication equipment, much of it running on older, purpose-built control systems, was never designed with modern cybersecurity in mind. For defense-adjacent fabricators already navi- gating CMMC 2.0 compliance, this is not a theo- retical concern. An AI-connected pick-and-place machine or AOI system represents a new node on the network that has to be inventoried, secured, and monitored, often faster than the compliance program can keep pace. A compromised AI-integrated system doesn't just risk stealing data, it can be used to subtly alter process parameters or inspection thresholds, creating defects that pass inspection by design. The scariest version of this scenario isn't a smash-and- grab data breach; it's a quiet, sustained manipula- tion of quality data that nobody catches until a field failure forces the question. 5. Confidently Wrong, and Nobody Double-Checks Generative AI tools are being used to draft root- cause analyses, suggest DFM corrections, and even propose process parameter adjustments. These tools are fluent and confident regardless of whether they're right, and that fluency is exactly the prob- lem. A hallucinated root cause that sounds plausi- ble and cites reasonable-seeming mechanisms can sail through a review process precisely because it reads like something a competent engineer would have written. The danger compounds under deadline pressure, when a corrective action report needs to close out before a customer audit, and an AI-drafted explana- tion is the path of least resistance. Rubber-stamping an AI-generated root cause without independently verifying it against the actual physical evidence is how a plausible-sounding but wrong explanation becomes the official record, and how the real root cause keeps causing defects long after the paper- work says it was fixed. The Common Thread None of these five risks argues against using AI in PCB fabrication; the technology's benefits are too significant to walk away from. What they argue for is treating AI outputs the way any good quality system treats a new, unproven process: with verification, traceability, and a healthy default skepticism, rather than the assumption that speed and confidence are the same thing as correctness. I-CONNECT007 Steve Williams is president of The Right Approach Consulting. He is also an independent certified coach, trainer, and speaker with the John Maxwell team. To read past columns, click here. T H E R I G H T A P P ROAC H