In the long arc of industrial civilization, the question has never been whether machines would assist human hands, but how wisely they would do so. CloudNC, a British software company founded in 2015, has raised $20 million in new funding — bringing its total to $128 million — to expand an AI system that helps skilled machinists navigate the staggering complexity of computer-controlled manufacturing. Operating at a moment when American industry is straining to reshore production amid a shortage of experienced workers, the company's wager is that the most durable automation is the kind that amp