JUNE-JULY 2018 Nov-Dec 2017 - Copy | Page 31

ARTICLE THE POTENTIAL FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN CONSTRUCTION A s the construction industry continues to move toward increased automation to increase safety and on-site productivity, AI applications can help get the job done. These tools offer both short and long-term benefits for companies, workers, and projects alike. Artificial intelligence (AI) is on track to transform the construction industry, allowing companies to operate more efficiently and safely, increase automation, and reduce equipment downtime. The use of AI in construction is growing particularly in applications involving machine vision for surveying and analyzing materials and structures, or for robotics applications such as automated bricklaying or autonomous vehicles Project Management AI embedded into a location-tracking program can provide proactive alerts for the project manager, informing them when materials arrive on-site and indicate where they are. This reduces the amount of time needed to track down and distribute the materials. As the construction industry continues to move toward increased automation to increase safety and on-site productivity, AI applications can help get the job done. These tools offer both short and long-term benefits for companies, workers, and projects alike. There are a variety of immediate benefits in using AI in construction. Design and Planning The design and planning phase is critical in construction. AI can help quality-check this entire process, resulting in a construction process and plans that are accurate, verified, and well designed. Advancements will also assist project managers and architectural consultants in forecasting and scheduling during the design and planning phase before ground is actually broken. AI is also powering a new generation of programs that allow companies to continuously monitor their heavy equipment on-site in