Future Technology in Construction - Episode 51 | James Garner

Construction Disrupted

As AI continues to revolutionise various sectors, its impact on construction is particularly noteworthy, presenting both significant opportunities and challenges.

One fundamental question that we never seem to get around to talking about is whether AI, as commonly understood, truly exists in practical applications today. We talk a good game, but are we talking about the right game?

And even if we are, we still need to consider how this game is constructed, as any successful deployment of AI is reliant on who is using it and what already exists, the data within construction and its cleanliness and reliability and whether are we truly ready to learn how to apply these tools effectively?

For those who feel they are primed to implement AI solutions right now, it’s important we don’t just go gung-ho here and we carefully consider the practicalities, ethics and pitfalls of doing so, and we’re doing this to solve problems rather than just doing the do!

If you haven’t heard of the paperclip hypothesis, you’re in for a treat! But before we get that all of this, we’re in for a real treat as I introduce our guest today.

James Garner is an accomplished data leader in the construction industry, which all started with his university dissertation on data and digitalisation in the construction sector followed by being elected as a Fellow of RICS for his significant writing contributions to the RICS Black Book technical standards back in 2012.

In 2020, James took up the challenge of becoming Head of Insights and Analytics at Gleeds, an opportunity that allowed him to further his skillset and qualify as a data analyst in 2022, launching the company's data analytics and research capabilities.

Today, James leads Gleeds' Global Data, Insights, and Analytics department, with a focus on business intelligence, project intelligence, data literacy, and data maturity and has been elected as chair of the Project Data Analytics Taskforce as well as being nominated as one of the Top 100 People in Data 2023 by Data IQ.

And if you haven’t already, check out James's weekly newsletter and podcast called ProjectFlux, the link to which is in the show notes.

Topics Covered

- Does AI actually exist?

- Do we have enough ‘clean’ data in construction to use AI effectively?

- Learning to use AI practically (how should we do this)?

- Advice for deploying AI in construction right now

- AI and the paperclip hypothesis

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Website: https://www.builddifferent.marketing/

https://linktr.ee/projectflux

Further Links

https://theconversation.com/not-everything-we-call-ai-is-actually-artificial-intelligence-heres-what-you-need-to-know-196732

https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2024/06/10/building-safety-changes-slow-down-construction-recovery/

https://aiartists.org/unanswered-questions

https://www.google.com/search?q=ai+paperclip+theory&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB909GB909&oq=Ai+paper+clip&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCQgDEAAYChiABDIHCAAQABiABDIGCAEQRRg5MgkIAhAAGAoYgAQyCQgDEAAYChiABDIJCAQQABgKGIAEMgkIBRAAGAoYgAQyCQgGEAAYChiABDIJCAcQABgKGIAEMggICBAAGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB7SAQg0NDk5ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://adsei.org/2023/03/12/theres-no-such-thing-as-artificial-intelligence/

https://insideainews.com/2024/03/22/the-essential-role-of-clean-data-in-unleashing-the-power-of-ai/

Mentioned in this episode:

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