The video provides valuable insights into how AI, particularly Generative AI (GenAI), functions and the prospects it offers in enhancing productivity in the construction and design sector. AI applications can automate some of the less value-added tasks like defining design specifications, thereby leaving engineers and architects free to tackle more complex aspects.
Another significant application area of AI in construction is in planning and scheduling. Currently perceived as a “dark art,” AI can supposedly lend predictability and augmentation to the process. The utilisation of AI can help learn from historical data to improve schedule adherence and manage resource allocation in real time.
A widely acknowledged but complex implementation of AI in construction is to predict and manage environmental impacts on designs. By simulating different future scenarios such as storms, floods, and excessive heat, construction can plan and build better, more enduring infrastructures using AI.
However, there are several challenges to successful AI adoption. The dependency on data, divided industry structure, and augmenting rather than replacing human intervention are notable hurdles. An from an economic perspective, there’s the question of monetizing tasks that can be performed instantly by AI.
Despite these challenges, GenAI is deemed as an essential player in countering capacity constraints in the industry. AI stands to augment human processing and aid in meeting the challenges of decarbonization in the next three to five decades.
