The term "AI" is everywhere, along with several associated terms that may be less familiar. There is a lot of hype around “AI” and yet it is not always precisely clear what people are talking about. The term may be used differently in various contexts.

Hugh Seaton, CDT, CCS, CEO at The Link, hosts a course a learning module, “Data in Construction,” from Procure. Seaton helps clear some of the smoke. In the course on data in construction, he offers this way to think about AI: “Artificial Intelligence is software that learns from data and gets better the more it is used, like a self-sharpening tool. But AI is still just software. And just like other software, it is built by someone, to do some task.”

In the course “Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence,” the construction-management platform provider defines the AI subcategory of machine learning as "the ability of computer algorithms to improve automatically through experience." Machine learning algorithms leverage statistics to ascertain patterns in large volumes of data. 

Those who aren't very familiar with AI or machine learning can feel overwhelmed by the potential of such tools. “If you haven’t yet built anything with machine learning or used any tools that can be classified as AI, it’s easy to be unclear about what’s true and what’s a bit of hype,” Seaton says.

Navigating the Hype

Unfortunately, there's a lot of hype out there regarding what AI and machine learning can and cannot accomplish. "Most of what you will have heard is based on a possible future: where AI will go or what it will automate," Seaton says. Too much of the media and consulting coverage focuses on "headline-grabbing predictions, with very little discussion of what it's actually being used for" here and now. 
Bottom line: "This technology is about adjusting settings to make your tools work better, not about robots taking over as pipefitters," Seaton notes.

Don't let depictions of AI in TV, movies, and elsewhere fool you. Too many of those "seem to be comparing AI to humans and suggesting that AI will soon be as smart as humans...[but] this isn't a good place to start," Seaton says.

Much Better Software

“Instead, I’d like you to begin to consider AI as spreadsheets, not accountants,” he says. “In other words, AI is much better software, but it is nowhere near human-level intelligence,” he stresses. 
The "big shift," as Seaton sees it, is that "for the first time ever, software doesn't need us to tell it every tiny detail for it to work," says Seaton. "It's taken us a long time to get to this point."

So, AI is next-level software with greatly increased capabilities. Through machine learning, software can now manage massively more data than previously. And in combination with other technology advances both in data management and processing capabilities, enables greater productivity. 
AI is allowing the vision of construction’s forward thinkers to come to fruition. But basically, it is much better software.