What AI Can Do For the Masonry Industry

Words: Andrew Edge, Nayeem Satar

If your pension fund doesn’t hold NVIDIA stock, your fund manager has some questions to answer. This week, NVIDIA became the most valuable company in the world, with a market cap exceeding $3.4 trillion. They have been at the forefront of AI mania that has swept the world since ChatGPT went viral in November 2022. While AI hype and stock prices grow, the construction industry quietly goes on with its business, managing skilled labor shortages, skyrocketing materials costs, high interest rates, and economic uncertainty.

Horizontal vs. Vertical AI
The first wave of AI startups provides generalized tools that aim to help white-collar workers, a ‘jack-of-all-trades, master of none.’ These tools can help your kids with their homework but lack the deep industry knowledge that comes from years of experience on job sites. ChatGPT and its competitors are often called horizontal AI, spanning many industry sectors. The second wave of AI startups is now beginning to emerge. These are vertical AI businesses trying to improve productivity in a thin vertical slice of an industry. They combine industry know-how with the latest in AI technology to solve very specific problems. Every day, more of these businesses are popping up to serve the construction industry.

Brick and Block Manufacturing
Bricks and blocks have been manufactured by humans in varying ways for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Recent advancements in robotics, automation, and AI have the potential to revolutionize the way bricks and blocks are made. From AI-generated novel block designs with complex geometries to AI-optimized materials utilizing recycled and sustainable materials, the industry is changing. The brick factories themselves are also undergoing transformation. Austria-based Wienerberger Group has been trialing AI and IoT (Internet of Things) analytics to reduce energy consumption in a pilot project in Poland, as the group aims to reach 'climate-neutral' status by 2050. (ref: SAS’ AI and advanced analytics solutions aid sustainability.)

Conceptual Building Design
Projects always start with a project brief and conceptual design, usually with the help of an architect. Building Information Modelling (BIM) systems that are already in use provide the ability to enhance and streamline the construction process, ensuring efficient deployment of resources and contractors to the site, and optimizing architectural design to improve sustainability, energy use, and thermal efficiency. The design process itself is now undergoing transformation with AI. Maket.ai, a Canadian startup, offers a virtual architect as a service that helps clients and construction professionals generate plans, cross-checking against local zoning codes and regulations to streamline approvals.

Project Management
There is a suite of verticalized AI tools for managing projects. Tools like ClickUp and Asana help with the day-to-day management of large job sites, with automated reporting, defect tracking, and integration into invoicing and payroll systems, removing the administrative burden of running large construction teams. Companies like OpenSpace are taking it to another level. Using specialized helmet cameras, you can walk around your job site and capture a full 3D progress snapshot of your job, automatically compared against the architect and structural engineering design, helping to identify mistakes before they become harder to rectify.

Real-World Construction
Robots and automation are also making their way onto job sites, with specialized robots and machines applying AI models to deal with the uncertain and sometimes hazardous environment on-site. These machines span the full range of construction phases. Dusty Robotics arrives early with their line-marking robot that prints construction plans directly onto your concrete slab, helping other trades to work more accurately. Australia-based FBR has developed the Hadrian X® robot to lay the structural brick and block walls, using AI models for quality control and dimensioning. Israeli startup Okibo has built a wall-finishing robot, using AI-based machine vision systems to scan, sand, and paint drywall.

Safety
There are significant hazards and risks to the health and safety of those involved in the construction industry. Advanced technologies involving computer vision, machine learning, and large language models can assist contractors and on-site operators, providing fast-tracked, task-specific safety training and education, threat and hazard identification, and risk management and mitigation strategies. Sydney-based SafetyCulture provides a safety management platform with AI-enhanced tools for job site inspection, job training, and job site analytics.

Vision for the Future
As NVIDIA manages to surpass Moore’s law in terms of AI compute power, the ability to train and use AI-powered applications is only going to improve.

Work has changed enormously over the past few generations. Our great-grandparents would barely recognize aspects of our jobs and the tools we use to get work done. In the future, construction professionals will evolve into the essential connectors of an increasingly automated industry, acting as the glue that binds together diverse autonomous and semi-autonomous services. Leveraging their deep industry knowledge, they will coordinate AI-driven tools, robotic systems, and advanced project management platforms to create a harmonious and efficient construction process. This synergy will enhance productivity and precision while driving sustainability and safety, as human expertise ensures that AI applications are effectively integrated and continuously improved. As a result, construction projects will become smarter, more sustainable, and safer, ushering in a new era of innovation and efficiency in the industry.

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