B1 - AI in the future

When someone thinks of AI (artificial intelligence), the first things that come to mind are doomsday si-fi movies or quotes from Stephen Hawking or Elon Musk telling humanity to be wary of this technology (which makes me wonder if they should stop watching si-fi movies).  AI has been all the rage lately in Hollywood with movies such as Transcendence, where a man uploads his brain to a computer and becomes sort of a god, or multiple cop shows on basic television.

I guess what my point is, is that AI is a real thing that is being worked on by really smart people in companies and universities all over the world, and that it has real world benifits, but this stigma or fear of AI should not (and is not) get in the way of the implementation of these technologies.

AI has potential impact in the future of the building industry in many ways, however the one I would like to talk about is the idea of Machine Learning (ML).  ML is a form of AI that does exactly what the name implies, it learns by itself. Essentially these ML programs are used to mine certain data, by learning what data is applicable and what data is useless from a particular source.

This type of AI has potential in the building and engineering industry because a mass amount of information on all aspects of the industry are in a lot of different places. Textbooks, academic journals, Internet websites, industrial magazines, etc. all have vital information in engineering technologies, however with all the information in so many different places, these studies and practices often don't translate into real world innovation. With the perfection of AI and ML, we will see a future where engineers, designers, and constructors will be able to share and discover information and change trends in the industry because a program has deciphered a trend or a more perfect design through data, rather than having the risk of the trial and error process of the building industry.