The UK Government has earmarked Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data as one of four ‘industries of the future’ and construction has been identified as one of six initial priority sectors to receive support to rapidly adopt next generation AI technologies at scale – helping to enable a productivity revolution.
AI leverages computers and machines to perform problem-solving and decision-making tasks that typically require human intelligence. At its core, AI is a branch of computer science that aims to answer mathematician Alan Turing’s question – “Can machines think?” – in the affirmative.
During 2022 we published a series of thought leadership articles looking at the challenges posed by AI in the construction industry, what AI can do during the different stages of the construction process, how data is collected and how the benefits of AI can be quantified.
Some of the biggest and most enduring challenges currently faced by the industry, including labour and skills shortages, can be addressed by AI - and with barriers to entry steadily falling, the technology is set to play an increasingly important role. AI can take over monotonous, cumbersome and repetitive tasks, help with design and planning and allow construction teams to dedicate more of their time to honing their expertise and creativity.
Without doubt, AI will disrupt traditional workflows and incite business process change, but this disruption will be necessary to improve the long-term productivity growth of the sector.
Discover more in our series of articles here.