Penetration of Artificial Intelligence, or AI as it is commonly called, in various human endeavours is increasing at an exponential rate. While the construction Industry is considered to be a slow adopter of new technologies, it can not remain untouched by these revolutionary changes.

There are many associated industries that are essential to success of the construction industry. These include construction financing, construction equipment, supply chain to name a few. Ai has already penetrated these domains deeply; we can say that AI is already influencing the construction industry. However, beyond these peripheral domains, there are many mainstream activities in construction that can benefit from AI. These include Project scheduling, Quality Control, Topographic survey, machine learning for predictive analysis, robotics in managing construction equipment and monitoring of stresses during construction using embedded sensors!

Like all disruptive technologies, AI is also set to disrupt the employment scenario in the construction industry. However, instead of causing unemployment, it will cause shifting of employment. This is exactly what happened when batching plants and transit mixers replaced hundreds of labour producing and placing concrete. The employment got shifted from manual labour to batching plant designers, manufacturers, installers and operators.

We need not worry about loss of employment, unless we are rigid about the type of employment that we want. We need to be flexible and future ready!

Are you?