Break through: how AI and machine learning could transform construction

Anyone who uses Facebook can't have failed to notice that in recent years it has become rather good at recognising faces – it is as if the social network has been scrolling through photos of your friends for years and is now as familiar with them as you are. You may find this unsettling or remarkable, but the reality is that this is only the most visible manifestation of the rapid improvements in artificial intelligence under way across the globe – improvements that have, for example, led the US government to announce it is trialling facial recognition systems as a security measure at the White House, and sparked protests – on ethical and privacy grounds – against e-commerce giant Amazon for selling such technology. "The exciting part is that the results produced are free from bias, which improves confidence and relationships between clients and contractors" The artificial intelligence (AI) technologies behind facial recognition are machine learning, in which computers use algorithms to analyse data and learn without assistance, and deep learning – a similar but more advanced system based on "recurrent neural networks" – that replicate some of the ways the brain works, for example making decisions based on an ability to differentiate between pieces of information. This is smart stuff, but it's tech that the construction industry has been somewhat sluggish to seize on and apply to its own processes. But now it seems construction is waking up to the potential of AI.