Everybody’s talking about it, so today we are too. In this episode, we’re exploring the implications of AI for construction. (And yes, we know it's not Friday.) (We touched on this topic in
our conversation with Norine Bagate a couple weeks ago. Check out that episode if you missed it.) Tyler shares what he’s read and seen about AI virtual assistants that can identify potential candidate (for podcast guests, for instance) and then write emails customized to each of them. He goes on to discuss some interesting insights from the
Marketing Against the Grain podcast. Eddie shares about a dismal experience with Shopify’s AI DJ, which acted confusingly on his love of the
Interstellar soundtrack and also gave him some wonderfully mellow
Jon Foreman tunes right as he was ready to work out. As we shift to construction, Tyler asks Eddie where he thinks the greatest amount of disruption will occur. He suspects that the first significant impact will be on research-based tasks, such as those involved in architecture and engineering. Tyler predicts that the changes will be huge but that it may also be a bit slower than expected. He’s guessing that today’s kids will expect AI. They’ll integrate it intuitively into their daily activities. With this in mind, we discuss the “generational” difference even between the two of us (who are only 13 years apart):
- Eddie’s knee-jerk reaction is not to use technology. His first instinct is to figure it out with his own two hands and with books. If he has a question, he goes for the manual.
- Tyler is likely to just Google it. That will likely bring him back to digital versions of the same source, but the way a person engages with it is different.
We compare AI/ChatGPT with Google search as far as how they may affect our approach to questions, problems, and solutions. We discuss exclamation points as a generational identifier. Eddie discusses the hesitations he continues to feel in the shift toward paperless documentation. Tyler entered the industry when that shift had already taken place. Is it all doom and gloom? Tyler hopes not. He’s hopeful that AI will speed up processes that are currently unnecessarily slow. Eddie’s prediction is that the first big change will involve crawling models for codified deficiencies as well as code compliance. As municipalities come on board, the movement will grow. Tyler speculates that insurance companies may soon require that plans go through an AI check. Today’s 10-year-olds, such as Eddie’s daughter, can design entire homes on their tablets. They’re deeply immersed in technology that even some architects are still struggling to adopt. Design, Tyler thinks, will become less intense. The collection of options and modules available to meet a specific use will be much greater. We don’t want to quit having ideas. We want buildings to continue to have a personality. We want people to continue to have to solve problems. This won’t be easy. It won’t be quick. There’s an intuition that comes with being human. We hope it will enhance and facilitate imagination rather than You’ve likely heard about the
AI-generated song that was
originally claimed to be by Drake and The Weeknd. We close by pondering: Is there any chance that this will all go the way of
80s synth? Ten years from now, might there be nostalgia for long-form blog posts? Our request: If you have some thoughts or if you have seen anything in the field regarding AI, we’d love to hear from you on our phone line: 512-THE-BROS. Find Us Online:
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Construction Brothers