b'CONSTRUCTION PRIORITIES: TECHNOLOGYAI USE IN CONSTRUCTIONWHAT ARE THE MOST PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS FOR THE INDUSTRY TODAY? By Sarah B. HoodTHE LAST ISSUE OF Rajitha Chaparala, Procores VP ofThird is Natural Language Processing Builders Digest looked at theProduct, Data & AI, based in Boston. (NLP). Vendors like Document Crunch broad definition of Artificial Intelligencemanage contract details; you can ask (AI) and its implications for theShe says that the top function for ease ofa question and it will tell you what the construction field. In this issue, we askuse and affordability today is generativecontract says, Chaparala says. NLP also how it is now being put to use. AI, utilized via apps like ChatGPT,powers chatbots, often based onMicrosoft Copilot and Gemini thatIBM Watson.AI is a massive disruptor: its going tocarry out research, editing and writing change the world, says TCA presidentfunctions: You can use it for daily logs.Fourth, computer-vision apps like and CEO John Mollenhauer. Look whatOpenSpace and EarthCam monitor its done for design, with AI-driven BIMYou can look at conflicts in BIM. You canjobsites with 360 cameras or drones. platforms. It used to take days, weeks,look at a specification and drawings andMore costly and less versatile are even months to understand what wouldunderstand what the variances are, robotics, like automated drywall happen to the rest of the building whenshe says. installers and painting robots, and AI we made a little change; now weve gotvirtual reality (VR) or augmented reality algorithms that figure that out for us Second in current usefulness is machine(AR). Ive seen a virtual arm that in minutes. learning, which is streamlining areas likeyou can control to paint a wall, she prescriptive maintenance of equipment.comments, but these areas are the least Procore Technologies, Inc.s report HowShe says Procore is heavily investingpractical and cost-effective uses of AIWe Build Now: Technology and industryin tools to keep track of the location ofin construction.trends shaping Canadian construction inmaterials and equipment and simplify 2023 found that construction industrymovement onsite. Also, customers allCanadian companies are finding many professionals believe they could save asuses for AI. At EllisDon, for example, much as 12 per cent of their budgetswant to predict safety; most folks also dothe focus is on applications for health if they could handle their data moreforecasting, because thats where theyand safety and supply chain. AI project efficiently. AI can help with that, sayshave really good data. manager Luis De La Torre says that, with 26Quarter 22024 BUILDERSDIGEST'