{"id":30429,"date":"2025-05-15T04:39:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T11:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/for-ai-data-is-king-futuretech-presenters\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T04:39:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T11:39:08","slug":"for-ai-data-is-king-futuretech-presenters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/for-ai-data-is-king-futuretech-presenters\/","title":{"rendered":"For AI, data is king: FutureTech presenters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech\">\n    <button class=\"text-to-speech__button button\"><\/p>\n<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"text-to-speech__button__icon\" src=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/static\/images\/audio_icon.svg?482016190122\" alt=\"-\"><\/p>\n<p>        Listen to the article<br \/>\n        <span class=\"text-to-speech__button__audio-length\">5 min<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls\">\n        <audio controls=\"\" class=\"js-text-to-speech\" preload=\"none\"><source src=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dmgi9movl\/video\/upload\/q_1\/v1747239627\/news\/text_to_speech\/for-ai-data-is-king-futuretech-presenters_mxxx58.wav\" type=\"audio\/mp3\"><\/source><\/audio><\/p>\n<div class=\"text-to-speech__controls__text\">\n            This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>.\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><strong>SAN FRANCISCO<\/strong> \u2014 For the second year in a row, artificial intelligence was the talk of construction\u2019s tech mavens.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Speakers gave attendees at the recent ENR FutureTech conference a peek at how they apply AI-based systems and products to their workflows and jobsites. Many spoke of how AI affects their specific focus areas while showcasing the tech\u2019s diffusion into every aspect of the building industry, from visualization to mentoring and data usage.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>For example, Sadia Janjua, chief of digital transformation of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, explained how the agency has leveraged in-house chatbots during the conference\u2019s opening keynote on May 6.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>One chatbot learns from the Port Authority\u2019s standard operating procedures, manuals and documentation, and can share that information in the form of a quick chat with a user, without requiring multiple searches.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cEffective AI hinges on high quality, structured data, and I like to think of it as the essential fuel for AI solutions,\u201d Janjua said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><span><span>Getting practical<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>At FutureTech, practical solutions were a recurring motif.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Hamzah Shanbari, director of innovation for Jacksonville, Florida-based contractor Haskell, described how the unlikely pairing of AI and Wi-Fi signals can be leveraged in a mapping software that can track the progress of construction on a site.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>By placing commercially available routers at different locations throughout the jobsite, the Wise system can identify conduits, ductwork and pipes with the help of an AI model that the company is training to spot the minute differences that separate these structures. The end result is what Wise\u2019s website calls accurate, near real-time progress tracking on jobsites.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>While Wise is still in the research and development phase, Shanbari was bullish on its potential.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cImagine what we can do if we actually sit down and develop those nodes to be specifically used for this tracking, and not just off-the-shelf solutions?\u201d Shanbari asked listeners.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><span><span>Optimistic pessimists<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Contractors, when it comes to AI, have a lot of \u201coptimistic pessimism,\u201d said Kris Lengieza, global technology evangelist at Carpinteria, California-based contech giant Procore. Builders, Lengieza said, are looking for solutions that they can apply to existing problems in their businesses.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cI think they&#8217;re worried that it&#8217;s a lot of flash and bang, and not a lot of action,\u201d Lengieza told Construction Dive during the conference.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Indeed, presenters cautioned, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/the-ways-contractors-are-using-ai-on-jobsites-now\/718690\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>as they did in 2024<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, that contractors need to at least start experimenting with the tech to see how it applies to their unique workflows, or risk falling behind the competition. The first touchstone on that journey is the information that is fed into it.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cAI implementation doesn&#8217;t start with algorithms. It really starts with your data,\u201d Janjua said. \u201cIf your data is inconsistent, siloed and inaccessible, AI will only amplify those issues.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"standard-heading\"><span><span><span><span><span>Data is the new concrete<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>That data discussion at FutureTech was an extension of a similar conversation at this year\u2019s New York Build Conference in March. There, speakers said data quality is <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/ai-improve-construction-data\/743361\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>causing problems across the industry<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, and holding it back.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>The question about how to leverage data has needled at builders since the technology entered the mainstream with OpenAI\u2019s launch of ChatGPT in 2022. The overarching question of <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/ai-arms-race-builders-construction-2025\/736685\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>making sense of the millions of data points<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> a contractor can collect on any one project has bugged builders as long as they\u2019ve been able to track it.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>To that end, contractors have historically found success with AI-based products that target specific, narrow issues. Providence, Rhode Island-based Gilbane Building Co. used New York City-based Trunk Tools\u2019 AI program to <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/gilbane-trunk-tools-ai-baird-center\/725378\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>track 21,000 documents<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><span><span><span><span><span><span> on the $456 million Baird Center expansion project. With the tool, Gilbane avoided more than $100,000 in rework per month.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>At FutureTech, it was those kinds of specific uses that got attendees\u2019 attention. To that point, according to Lengieza, data is quickly becoming construction\u2019s new concrete.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>\u201cIt&#8217;s going to be what everything is built on. It&#8217;s going to be what differentiates contractors,\u201d Lengieza said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constructiondive.com\/news\/ai-data-futuretech-enr-conference-san-francisco\/748123\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">This article was originally posted at Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] Listen to the article 5 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. SAN &#8230; <a title=\"For AI, data is king: FutureTech presenters\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/for-ai-data-is-king-futuretech-presenters\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about For AI, data is king: FutureTech presenters\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-dive","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}