Can generative AI be a BIG part of the future for the construction industry? 

We have all seen it in the news. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the emerging computing technology which is capable of performing tasks which require human intelligence. It is continuing to grow across the globe, and is revolutionising the way businesses work. 

AI is now emerging into a wide portfolio of industries, and as well as completing strategic jobs, it is even able to respond in emotional ways, similar to its human colleagues! From making coffees and delivering post, to writing construction plans and analysing engineering performance, the capabilities of AI are endless. But it doesn't stop there for the construction industry. 

Generative AI

Generative AI is artificial intelligence which generates entirely new and unique solutions. This technology has wide-ranging applications, from assisting in creative tasks like design drawings, to surveying plans, as well as sourcing sustainable construction materials. It can even create foundation planning changes.

A RECENT DEVELOPMENT THAT WHY MEDIA HAS BEEN A PART OF ENCOMPASSED A NUMBER OF AI SOLUTIONS 

Generative AI comes in many forms, some of which you’ll likely already be familiar with. ‘Text-to-text’ is a form of AI which has recently been popularised by language models such as ChatGPT. ‘Text-to-image’ models are ones which generate images from text prompts, like Stable Diffusion and DALL-E, and ‘Image-to-text’ AI is sometimes referred to as ‘image captioning’, and ‘Multimodal’ are models that receive or generate several different types of data as input. 

AI for Construction and Engineering

It is clear that different types of generative AI will become part of many workforces.  Alan Mosca, co-founder of nPlan believes it is plausible that a “generic construction AI” will emerge that is more specific, and we will be able to ask it all sorts of questions after uploading current project data or documentation. 

Wondering how? Here are a few examples of how AI is expected to change construction and engineering over the next two to five years.

Design

By making alternative designs or altering existing designs quicker than humanely possible, AI will allow designers to create complex visions much faster. Human requests such as ‘change the window shape’ and ‘make the garden smaller’ could be handled instantly by AI, making output far more productive than humanly possible. 

Construction and Engineering 

During construction, when problems inevitably arise, AI will be able to help. If a project experiences material supply issues, AI will have the capability to generate new construction options that don’t use that specific material. It will also be able to amend schedules, bills of materials, estimation costs, and scope documents. Additionally, it is possible that AI will generate multiple options for utility and power distribution.

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS COULD BENEFIT FROM IMPROVED DESIGN PLANS AND SURVEYS

Project Management, Planning, Risk Management

Planning a project can be made easier by AI. It will have the ability to reschedule components of a project to fit a particular set of constraints, and automatically generate risk registers from designs and schedules. 

When a project is delayed or runs into financial trouble, alternatives (schedule, construction methodology, or design of certain components) that improve the capital or time efficiency can be generated.

The future for AI 

The future of engineering and construction AI will be exciting to follow over the next coming years, and the above ideas are only a tiny part of what may become a reality! If successful, generative construction AI could mean that the construction industry will see an increase in productivity, efficiency and creativity.

Mosca believes that AI will disrupt how those categories operate, and those who embrace these new opportunities will gain a significant advantage which will allow them to work more efficiently.

AI COULD BE THE FUTURE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY 

Ella Brown from Why Media explains “Why Media service the construction and new home industry in the UK and Southern Europe, and are impressed with how far constructive AI has come within such a short period of time. The increase in AI generated construction materials has grown at an astonishing rate over the last three years, and Why Media clients such as Statom Group, a leading construction company in the United Kingdom, are excited about the future of generative construction AI.”

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