Let’s start with an overview of what Holistic AI is. It’s a buzzword we have heard a lot about in the last few months.
- Holistic – Interconnected and treated as a whole
- Holistic Construction – The whole project, the whole building and its environmental, social and economic impacts.
- Holistic AI – Full lifecycle oversight for risk management and compliance.
Many believe AI is a bandwagon we have all jumped on without understanding what we would like to achieve. So, here is a consolidation of some of the ideas we have heard on the grapevine, including our discussion on Agentic AI.
What is Holistic AI In Construction?
In construction, the intention is to use AI to help to mitigate risks on site and ensure compliance and efficiency. It could also reduce waste, ensure quality control and anticipate supply chain disruptions. Thus, saving time and money. An AI put to work considering every factor of a project to produce workflows, answers and a foolproof plan to guide the team through the projects, reducing the bumps in the road we have come to loathe, and expect.
Let’s dig deeper into how it can achieve this, shall we?
How Holistic AI Can Help Construction Projects?
Improved Compliance – An AI assistant can suggest changes to plans to improve energy efficiency, structural strength, etc. It would use previous data as well as draw on industry regulation, changes and news to advise best practice. This would ensure the best build and better compliance. No more wondering if you’ll pass building regulations.
Scheduling – An AI assistant would use pattern recognition to suggest tasks and timings to improve schedules, mitigate delays and improve efficiency in the schedule overall. Just like in compliance, access to previous project data is essential for this. It learns from your experience and suggests improvements, so every project gets better and better.
Maintenance – A holistic AI can monitor buildings and suggest and schedule maintenance. This is something that is used in the Burj Khalifa to maintain its many floors, keeping it running at its best.
Keep costs down – Imagine being able to instantly flag cost changes and supply chain disruptions by leveraging past and present cost data, industry news and events. Eliminating or reducing the need to manually perform repetitive tasks saves time and, therefore, money.
Improve safety – The same pattern recognition that aids in scheduling can also aid in monitoring safety. On-site video is monitored with an AI assistant to spot and flag safety issues right away, keeping sites and teams safer.
Improve quality control – AI and robotic machinery can be used to assist in bricklaying and welding. This is something we are not unfamiliar with now, but would see massive improvement in accuracy with the aid of AI technology. With the aid of these tools, as many tools have before, this would make projects move more quickly, and in the case of risky work like welding, it would be much safer.
Energy Efficiency – Tracking energy usage takes a lot of data. AI can help to process that data and use this data to predict energy needs, optimise the usage and help to cut costs. Especially important as the construction industry has been scrutinised for producing more than a fifth of global carbon emissions.
At this juncture, this is speculative. As with all AI discussions, we are laying out the best use of the still emerging and improving technology. However, it is important to ensure we have solid goals for this powerful tech so we can guide this speculation in the direction of tools that can be sure to help work alongside us. within a fence of safety and an ethical framework to ensure fair resolutions.