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Over the past year-plus, the continued development of a first-of-its-kind institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Construction has taught Mani Golparvar-Fard several things. The most important lesson, though, is that there has never been a better time to bring together the industry leaders in an Institute that develops foundational research to address some of the most urgent problems of the construction industry.

As the United States attempts to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and formulate a new infrastructure effort, Golparvar-Fard said that the time is now for AI and the construction industry to work hand-in-hand.

“What we’ve actually learned is that the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of technology in the construction industry,” said Golparvar-Fard, a professor with Civil & Environmental Engineering. “Previously, the industry viewed AI-driven solutions as something that was nice to have, but now it’s become a necessity. This sense has only heighted as entities attempt to streamline their engineering and construction activities during a period of remote workspaces, after which many industry leaders realized productivity in many workflows can be magnified.”