Dash: A Low Code Development Platform for AI Applications in Industry

Low Code Development (LCD) is a popular way of creating database applications owing to its simplicity and the resulting improvement in accessibility: the developer uses gestures like drag and drop with icons representing existing programs or data sources, then employs pull-down menus for customization, and hence rarely needs to write new software. Our work is motivated by a recent trend that seeks to move the LCD methodology into AI settings, such as for product inspection in industrial shop floors (factories). We start by showing that LCD-created AIs (LCDAIs) for time-pressured tasks often need so much customization that the deployment engineer ends up needing a deep understanding of the application, subverting the LCD philosophy. Dash introduces a new LCD platform that focuses on LCDAIs for complex, time-sensitive distributed systems. Beyond these basic goals, the technology optimizes both development and deployment.