b'TECHNOLOGYAGE OFTHE MACHINEARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNINGOFFER POTENTIAL FOR TIME AND COST SAVINGS By Sarah B. HoodIN THE DAILY ROUTINE OF THE WORKSITE, artificialand removal more efficient through continually-learning intelligence and machine learning can sound likealgorithms that monitor and analyze video feeds fromfuturistic concepts, but that future is today. These technologiessite cameras.are part of every industry, like the automotive sector,where they are integrated into everything from roboticLEVERAGING DATAmanufacturing equipment to built-in parking assistance andIn November 2020, Procore announced its annual How We Build obstacle detection. Now Canada survey. It found that 88 per cent of respondents believe technology will play a key role in the future of how we work COVID is revealing that every mobile device and laptop offersin construction, or actually form the backbone of the construction a wealth of opportunities to increase safety, efficiency andindustry. With more than 300 partners in its platform, Procore is productivity that have barely begun to be exploited. Combineintegrating an enormous amount of data collected from its users these with other tech tools like drones, thermal sensors andin the field that can be used to fine-tune its analytics platform BIM modelling, and theres hardly any area of constructionthrough artificial intelligence and machine learning.that cannot be made more efficient, except possibly waiting for concrete to cure. (But waitOttawa-based Giatec Scientific Inc.,We are leveraging all the data that is available to build out the a partner of Procore Technologies, is currently leveraging AI andalgorithm to better serve industry, says Lengieza. With each machine learning to predict whether a concrete mix will reachrequest for information (RFI), the system becomes better able strength when its required!) to direct users to the information they need. In that sense, with every RFI, youre actually training that algorithm to get a little Machine learning is a computational method: a way of doingsmarter, depending which result you go to, so the next time you math to train a machine to do a task over and over again, usingsearch, its going to bubble that response higher to the top ofalgorithms, explains Kris Lengieza, Procores senior directorthe list.of global partnerships and alliances. With AI, youre layering in the industry knowledge to basically predict whats next; whenJust as auto manufacturers are building smarter cars, heavy we start to predict whats next, thats when we move into AI. equipment is getting smarter too. For example, California-based Built Robotics produces a combination of hardware and software This can take many forms, including Intuitive AIs Oscar Hygiene,that can be installed on any piece of heavy equipment, explains which monitors the health of people entering a worksite ordirector of communications Erol Ahmed. Its currently the only building. Another example is the work of INDUS.AI, anothercommercially available system of its kind specifically geared Procore partner, which uses AI to simplify the automation oftowards the earth-moving needs of the construction industry.data entry or PPE-use monitoring, or make material deliveriesWe see the need for construction companies to upgrade to the 24Quarter 1 2021 BUILDERSDIGEST'