Excellence in A.I. - Recap (and other A.I. musings)

Before six months ago, most of the industry dialogue around technology/innovation focused primarily on point solutions, technology databases, investment booms/busts, and data strategies – I am finding that today, most industry conversations are now focused on A.I. One doesn’t need to venture very far to stumble across industry events, market research, and technology products that are specifically concerned with exploring, understanding, and solving for A.I. in construction.

Admittedly, I am not an A.I.-expert (far from it), however, there is a growing need for me to understand A.I.’s role in construction (and society), which is compelling me to become proficient. It’s relevant to me because construction teams are grappling with how to best use it, IT teams are grappling with how to best control it, and leadership teams are grappling with how to best govern it.

Excellence in A.I.

Recently, I attended a virtual conference on the topic; AI Excellence in Construction hosted by Placer Solutions ' Nate Fuller , as well as sponsored by the Associated General Contractors of America and 微软 . It was in light of this virtual conference and the current industry appetite that I wanted to provide my 5 Takeaways.

1. AI is here to stay: Artificial Intelligence has been around since early 2010s, with the most recent wave beginning in 2022 by OpenAI . As compared to the earlier wave, there exists today far more tech devices, data centers, and computing power to leverage this kind of technology in day-to-day life. Not only that, but builders today have more resources dedicated to technology, innovation, and data – which will only further encourage A.I. adoption amongst construction organizations. ?
2. Relax, nobody has it figured out: It’s easy to feel like you have fallen behind the rest of the industry. At least, that’s how I felt. But the reality is that everyone is trying to figure out A.I. Nobody completely knows how to best understand, interact, and leverage AI, rather, it’s a journey of a thousand steps that we’re all beginning together.
3. Start slow: You don’t need to solve for everything right now, just focus on the first step. For me, my three personal applications were; 1) add A.I. as a recurring topic to my internal innovation discussions, 2) establish basic governance/controls around A.I., and 3) educate my teams about the opportunities/risks associated with A.I. And by “basic governance”, it could be as simple as framing A.I. to mimic your existing social media policies: for instance, it's okay to use, but do not upload any sensitive, proprietary, or otherwise protected information (as defined by yourselves and your owners/clients) to the platform. ?
4. Trust, but verify: How many more times will we hear this phrase in construction? With A.I., we cannot just assume its output will automatically be credible, legible, and reliable. The output is certainly informed, but just because it’s informed, doesn’t mean it’s accurate to your specific use case. As Cheri Hanes, CRIS of AXA XL has reminded me in the past, it helps to think of A.I. in its current form as a "team of interns." They can provide you with all the information you need, but it’s up to you to make sure it’s accurate, relevant, and appropriate for your deliverable.
5. Identify an A.I. deployment strategy: This could also probably be under the “start slow” category, but it’s important to realize that there are levels of complexity to leveraging A.I. - ranging from simple to complex. Something “simple” for today could be using A.I. to summarize meeting minutes or count the number of doors on a floorplan. Something “complex” for the future could be using A.I. to create buildable construction schedules based upon designs. Start simple and work yourselves up to the complex.

Other Resources

For those who are interested in learning more about the topic of A.I., I doubt you will need my help to find reputable industry content. Nevertheless, here are some resources that might be useful to you:

• Nate Fuller , Placer Solutions : Nate and his team have been an incredible help to the industry regarding this topic. I'd also encourage anyone to check out his industry report.
• Hugh Seaton, CDT, CCS , The Link.ai : Hugh continues to demonstrate his thought leadership across all industry topics. Check out his ongoing podcast with industry leaders Constructed Futures and his upcoming A.I. webinar.
• Erin Khan , Erin Khan Consulting : Built upon her previous experience running innovation for a top-ENR builder, Erin is not only an industry strategic thinker, but can turn strategic thinking into tactical action. You can typically find her discussing A.I. at industry events and panels.
• Associated Builders and Contractors : Their Tech Committee recently created a helpful resource: A.I. in Construction: What does it mean for our contractors?
• 德勤 's Outlook Research is perennially a great resource. Check out their 2024 engineering and construction industry outlook.

Let me know if there are any other resources that I missed and should add to the list!