7 things construction should know about AI

AI conjures a lot of emotion. It’s a perennial villain in movies and comes with a significant helping of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) in real life.

But rather than seeing AI as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character from The Terminator, those in construction should instead think about the robot hero in the sequel and its famous catchphrase: “Come with me if you want to live.”

Why? Because it can help construction companies thrive (and survive) amidst a fast and ever-changing market and new and emerging challenges contractors face. 

With that in mind, let’s take a minute to demystify the topic of AI in construction and look at some important things that contractors should know to take advantage of it. First, know that there are three main types of AI used in construction: automation, generative and predictive.

While there’s a lot of buzz around AI (especially generative AI), for it to be valuable to contractors it needs to be focused on and understand the industry and their companies. We recently presented these in a highly attended webinar on the topic.

The 7 things construction needs to know 

AI has an opportunity to truly revolutionize construction in several ways, but first companies need to understand what they are trying to do with it.

1. AI enhances human work — AI isn’t replacing humans. What it is doing is helping humans work better and on better things. For example, project managers don’t need to spend vital time uploading and downloading and entering and re-entering information across various project management systems when AI can do it. 

Forecasting can be improved since information can be accessed in real-time. Importantly, AI can eliminate doing double data entry, so humans don’t feel like they are being treated like robots.

2. AI augments human experience — At every point, humans need to be in the loop. AI isn’t currently able to run forecasts on its own and is nowhere near as smart as a project manager, CEO or CFO needs to be involved. What it can do is get the right information to the right people in the right way and at the right time.

Gone are hours spent with teams arguing amongst each other about numbers. AI knows the numbers, and through automation can deliver them exactly as they need to be seen. Of course, having the right data at the right time helps lead to the right decisions.

3. AI improves accuracy — Part of having the right data comes from avoiding human error that inevitably comes through data entry (and especially double data entry). No more guessing at cost codes, AI can have you covered. It also has a long “memory” that runs throughout the workflow, ensuring no steps are missed or budgetary issues overlooked.

4. AI improves timeliness — Tied to accuracy, AI improves the timeliness of information. Rather than gap accounting that has us operating at least a month or more out, AI (like Briq) is already delivering data more frequently, leading to a more continuous close and clearer, big-picture accounting models.  

5. AI-based predictions are better — We like to say, with AI your yesterdays are crystal clear, you better understand your today, and your tomorrows are a little less cloudy.

Construction companies can do a lot with predictive AI—like predicting change order numbers to prevent fee erosion—but it’s still in its infancy. Today, it still needs to draw upon human experience, comparing what the AI is predicting with actuals, and adding a healthy gut check.

6. AI works on tasks 24/7 — Put simply: machines are better at running repetitive, repeatable tasks. AI never gets sick, nor takes a holiday. In fact, AI bots can finish automated workflows non-stop and not hate their jobs doing them. Meanwhile, this brings better balance to employees, who aren’t spending long hours on frustrating data entry and are being utilized as knowledge workers.

7. Generalized AI won’t cut it — ChatGPT is cool, but it knows very little about construction and nothing about running a construction company or its finances. It may help you write an email but isn’t going to help you create a WIP. Sector-based AI is where the real transformation will come from in businesses.

We’ve always known that at Briq, which is why we’ve been focused exclusively on construction. Today, Briq is the only AI solution in construction focused on intelligent automation, generative AI, predictive analytics, and workflow management. This is needed to solve problems and answer questions unique to construction.

In the next couple of years, AI is going to play a bigger and bigger role in the construction industry. The time to start to take advantage of it is now. Organizations new to it should start small, like automating specific high-value workflows and go from there. Make a playbook incorporating and improving on what is working (and terminating what doesn’t.)

Otherwise, the competitive advantage that AI could bring is lost and it could be “Hasta la vista, baby.”

Want to learn even more about the power of AI in construction? Check out our recent webinar “7 things construction needs to know about AI” or schedule a demo with us.