IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OUT TO STEAL YOUR CONSTRUCTION JOB?

The use of AI in construction is growing but fears that it could soon replace humans is misplaced, although it likely will change the way the sector works, discovers Neil Gerrard

AI HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CHANGE THE WAY THAT THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY WORKS

PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK

In Douglas Adam’s fictional novel of the same name, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a very advanced but unreliable electronic guidebook to space travel. The Guide bore a simple but reassuring message on its front cover: ‘Don’t Panic’.

It’s advice worth remembering as the wider world grapples with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI). It has rapidly entered the public consciousness thanks to the arrival of services like ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and image generation tools.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates declared AI the most important technological advance in decades and professionals in all sorts of industries have started to ask themselves what it means for the world of work and whether it could ultimately make some jobs redundant.

So, what does it mean for construction professionals in particular? Might it replace humans completely? Or could it serve as a means to enhance productivity and take the mundanity out of work to allow humans to focus on what they are really good at?

IT’S NOT AS NEW AS YOU THINK

AI isn’t as new a phenomenon as it appears to be, says Stefana Parascho, tenure track assistant professor, in the laboratory for creative computation at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

Parascho now works on developing robotic construction methods and the practical implication of those methods. But she originally trained as an architect.

“AI has been around for a while now. It’s true that it has been evolving quicker and quicker: We can see that with Chat GPT, Midjourney and things like that, that are so accessible now to everyone. But it’s worth being aware that it’s not a completely new thing,” she comments.

“There’s always been this fear of AI and robots replacing human workers. Even though it’s evolving so fast, it’s nowhere near a place where it can fully replace humans.”

STREAMLINING WORKFLOWS

Where AI can help almost immediately is by taking over repetitive and mundane office tasks.

“I’d imagine zero to almost zero architects, engineers and construction managers want to spend their time reviewing emails, answering basic questions, preparing PowerPoints or formatting Excel reports,” says Danny McGough, assistant professor in the school of energy, construction and environment at Coventry University in the UK.

McGough specialises in Building Information Modelling (BIM), architectural technology and construction management.

“Being focused in these areas I’m a natural advocate of digital fluency and technology adoption. However, the downside of this is that we spend a lot of time learning new software, processes, reviewing data and putting this information into accessible formats such as design plans, 3D models, visualisations, presentations, and spreadsheets,” he says.

“AI could reduce the load of these processes, allowing us more time to innovate.”

AI is likely to prove very effective for planning construction processes more efficiently. But Parascho doesn’t think that this threatens the role of a human project manager or construction manager.

“Planning construction processes is a very complex task and AI can make it more efficient. But I do think there is a danger that if everything is planned out computationally, it relies on assumptions on what a human’s role is in the process and what they are capable of,” she says.

She cautions against regarding humans as machines in a big system. This is where human project managers can continue to play a valuable role because they understand their colleagues’ day-to-day capabilities and limitations better than a machine.

Where Parascho does see AI being able to make a significant impact in construction is by making robotics and autonomous machinery more accessible.

“Right now, every robot has its own programming language and interaction protocols. You need to have someone with quite specific skills to set these robots, programme them and get them to do what we want them to do,” she explains.

“AI can make the use of robots more accessible. There’s a lot of use of AI and computer vision to make autonomous machines more aware of their surroundings, which is necessary for construction because sites are messy and unpredictable.”

In time, the successful application of such technology could reduce the need for machine operators as well as some manual trades, but it is still a long way off.

TOOLS LIKE CHAT GPT HAVE BROUGHT THE USE OF AI INTO THE MAINSTREAM

PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK

AUSTRALIAN COMPANY FBR HAS DEVELOPED THE HADRIAN X BRICKLAYING ROBOT TO LAY BRICKS AUTONOMOUSLY

IMAGE: FBR

Where it is perhaps closer to being ready is when it comes to certain tasks like site surveys, where machines like Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot mounted with Trimble data collection sensors, or hard-hat-based technology like Open AI are already starting to have an effect. Meanwhile, Parascho sees the potential for AI to help engineers with complex calculations. “I think there is a lot of potential for making these calculations faster and easier to access,” she says. AI also has the ability to carry out extensive quality control checks. For example, it could be used to make sure that engineers have met all the safety standards with the structural design.

DATA MANAGEMENT

AI could provide a major advantage in the management of the huge volumes of data that construction projects now create. “Vast amounts of this data currently go to waste and stay lost in the limbo of closed-off and redundant project information,” McGough says. “We can utilise AI to help interpret this data and make it more accessible for expert users to analyse and validate.”

He points to the way in which construction already uses complex software to evaluate energy design data.

“Software helps assist in breaking down this information through accessible tools and interfaces such as Autodesk Insight, Green Building Studio and Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), which convert the raw data into useful and accessible information.

“As AI evolves and develops, we can use machine learning to take our analysis software to the next level. Instead of spending hours and days preparing models and pushing them through the software we can instead concentrate on key project and design decisions,” he adds.

BOSTON DYNAMIC’S SPOT ROBOT MOUNTED WITH TRIMBLE DATA COLLECTION SENSORS

IMAGE: TRIMBLE

CONCLUSION

Parascho declares herself an optimist when it comes to technology and AI. “It has never been a question of replacing humans,” she says. “I really do see the advantages of it and where we can employ it. It really is a means of enhancing what we can do.”

What AI can’t do – and what it shows no signs yet of being able to do – is to handle a construction project from start to finish. McGough warns that AI can and will get things wrong. “Discipline experts will be required to validate any outputs it produces,” he says.

“We can’t just leave a tool like Copilot AI to write out an email to a client or our boss unmoderated. For the foreseeable future, we need experts to review the data and information AI produces using the experience and knowledge they have gained over the years.”

The upshot is that your construction job is safe for now, but AI will probably change the way you work.

McGough concludes, “AI won’t suddenly make all roles redundant but will naturally force roles to evolve and adapt, learn where new technology can assist, and adopt the areas of AI and machine learning, which add value. If they don’t then they do risk becoming obsolete.”

CT