Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the latest battleground in the ongoing technological arms race.
However, as companies rush to embrace AI and weave it into their workflows, a recent Engineering News-Record article cautions that this technology remains largely uncharted territory and carries significant risks—particularly in the high-stakes fields of architecture, engineering, and construction.
Jeff Albee, vice president and director of digital solutions at global engineering, architecture, and environmental consulting firm, Stantec wrote that while AI is a “potentially transformative” technology for AEC industries, the rush to adopt AI “can lead to an over-reliance on systems that aren’t fully understood or properly vetted.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the current weapon of choice in the never-ending, global technological arms race.
“This is remarkably risky in the AEC world, where legal and safety compliance is mandatory and quality standards are non-negotiable,” he said. “The consequences of failing to properly assess and implement AI could be catastrophic, potentially leading to engineering failures or other serious issues that could endanger lives.”
In recent years, an increasing number of AEC firms have adopted AI to support project planning, operations and maintenance (O&M), jobsite safety, and other key areas.
A recent survey of 400 technology decision-makers across AEC firms in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Spain, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand revealed that 74% of them are now utilizing AI in at least one phase of their building projects. However, 54% of those leveraging AI express concerns about regulation, with 44% of those officials acknowledging that these worries are directly affecting their AI implementation strategies.
“The issue for firms (and the clients who employ them) is that the understanding of how to bring AI systems under the compliance umbrella in our industry is relatively immature,” Albee wrote. “And the mysterious processes that power AI and Machine Learning (ML) are a black box that are often left unexplained to the consumer of the outcomes that these services produce.”
Major questions remain to be answered about when and to what extent firms should disclose the use of AI-generated content in client deliverables.
“If an AI model generates part of some design schematic, who is responsible for ensuring that those elements of the design meet regulatory and safety standards?” Albee asked. “Should there be an “ingredients” label to disclose AI has been employed in the creation of work? A warning label? And if so, how should a client distinguish between a broadly available AI system (like CoPilot from Microsoft) that’s tried and trusted versus a proprietary model perhaps less well known?
“This lack of clarity could result in over-promising and worse, science errors or design flaws,” he continued. “That obviously creates massive potential liability for AEC firms.”
Albee emphasized the need for AEC firms to develop standards and frameworks that ensure quality and compliance.
Some organizations have already taken steps in this direction. The White House recently introduced a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, outlining five key principles designed to safeguard individuals from AI-related risks. Additionally, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released the AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF) to help organizations better understand and mitigate the risks associated with AI implementation.
“…As regulatory bodies increasingly turn their attention to AI, compliance with these standards will likely become mandatory,” Albee wrote. “Firms that proactively align their AI practices with these frameworks will be better positioned to adapt to future regulatory changes and maintain their competitive edge. We must not wait for the first catastrophic failure to figure this out. Using these frameworks now will allow companies to open the aperture of understanding of the wider risks that AI poses.”
: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the current weapon of choice in the never-ending, global technological arms race.
As AEC firms work to fully understand and harness AI technology, GPRS stands ready to help you Intelligently Visualize The Built World® with our accurate, field-verified infrastructure data that keeps you on time, on budget, and safe.
We offer a comprehensive suite of subsurface damage prevention, existing conditions documentation, and construction & facilities project management services designed to give you the accurate, actionable data you need to execute you and/or your client’s vision. Utilizing state-of-the-art technology and an industry-leading methodology, we can locate buried utilities, pinpoint leaks in underground water lines, inspect the integrity of sewer pipes, map & model your job site both above and below ground, and more.
All this data is at your fingertips 24/7 thanks to SiteMap® (patent pending), powered by GPRS. This proprietary utility mapping application provides you with accurate existing conditions documentation to protect your assets and people.
SiteMap® allows you and your team to plan, design, manage, dig, and ultimately build better by providing you with a single source of truth for all the vital infrastructure data you’ll need through every step of your project.
Click below to schedule a live, personal SiteMap® demo today.