There is a great buzz around the advent of digitization and use of Artificial Intelligence in the construction industry. While many are excited about it and expect it to be a solution to all the problems, some are confused and apprehensive about the job losses that it may entail. We should understand that both digitization and AI are not new, and many developments of the past had elements of these.

To put the issue in perspective, let us look at the impact that the ubiquitous MS Office had on us. MS word may help you write quickly, play around with font size and styles, help proof check the document quickly, and generally make your life easier. But to expect it to make you a better writer is not correct. Similarly, Excel does not improve the quality of your computation and PowerPoint doesn’t make you a fluent presenter! These tools improve our efficiency and facilitate us to do things that we could not imagine earlier, but they do not improve the ‘Quality’ of the deliverable.

The need of human skill and judgment, the personal touch, human element is there to stay. Hopefully!