Mr Moses Itanola is a graduate of the Federal University of Technology, Akure and the Director BIM Africa. He gave insight on BIM as it affects the human relationship, project cost and the future of the construction industry. He was at the West Africa Digital Construction where he spoke to our correspondent.
What is the place of Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence (AI and HI) in the construction industry?
We find that the industry is being disrupted by technology – the adoption of innovations in digital technology and construction. What we are looking at is, soon artificial intelligence will dominate. In the construction industry currently the most dominant is human intelligence where we are all leveraging on our experience, senses, thoughts on how things should be done, and how to achieve things. This is working fine for the industry but the challenge with it is that as talents begin to fade away we see that a wide gap is created between the skill-set required and what we need, to achieve an appropriate construction process. Artificial intelligence helps to bridge this gap because before people fade away from their activities, experiences, are captured and documented to enable those coming up to leverage on the data and make those same decisions. Artificial intelligence is disrupting the industry although we are not fully there yet, it is something that we are going to attain.
Do you see an intersecting of the AI and HI concept to bring about optimal results?
Yes. Basically for AI to function, the human touch is required – it is a necessity. All of the data used by the system to make those decisions are fed in by humans. For instance, the Autodesk TM Construction IQ where it gives predictions and analytics to an individual on the success of a project. How it works is that they will have aggregated data from about 10,000 construction sites to feed into the system and then the system leverages on that data to make a decision. What can work in the industry is the hybrid of both, where humans begin to understand that AI cannot take-over their jobs but they need to help the AI system to enable them to work. All of AI is the extension of machine learning, emotional intelligence and all of that. The combination of all these and human input is needed to make the industry better.
What are some challenges with the incorporation of AI on a larger scale?
Presently, the major challenge is that we are still very traditional and before we get to AI we need to have gotten to the likes of BIM, digital technology, and at least have some experience with collaborating in the cloud before we extend to AI. If the industry is still traditional and paper-based it means that it is a difficult challenge for us and we would not be able to achieve what AI expects or requires from us.
How close or how far are we to get to the level of fully incorporating AI?
We are very close because we are already beginning to see products that are addressing this. ProcureTM last week announced a new tool called Procure Analytics TM which is an AI system. Autodesk TM already has the Build 360 IQ also an AI system. So, yes those products are not being used in the country but if they are existing somewhere it means we are this close – all it takes is somebody to wake-up, learn those products, and begin to use them. Everybody thinks it is a long time from now but I will say it is a very short time.
What is your take on the idea that posits that machines are coming to take-over jobs?
Like is said, machines will take over jobs we cannot dispute that fact but the people who would be affected are those who have not strategically positioned themselves. We can take a look at Kodak TM and how it was taken out but we have also seen the rise of the Amazon, Google, and Facebook. These companies were not in existence when Kodak was the king but Kodak could not strategically position itself to evolve into the need of the industry. If you take a look at these new-age companies right now, you see them moving beyond where they were a few years ago because if they do not move they would be left behind. It is just basic that yes, computers, machine learning, artificial intelligence will take-over jobs but it is going to be the jobs of those that allow themselves to become obsolete by not evolving into the requirement of the industry.
In line with your opinion, what are your recommendations for those at risk of falling into the obsolete category?
It is basic – the quest for knowledge. They have to move out of their comfort zone and learn by understanding how digital technology works the likes of drones and Virtual Reality because all of those are what feed the AI system. Then an extension should be taken into learning programming like Python and C++ programming languages that helps one to interact with machines.
What are some of the benefits of BIM?
One critical benefit that BIM offers is collaboration – the ability to interact with your project stakeholders and every other person you are on the project with. This ability helps to ensure that information flows in real-time and when this happens there is a lot of productivity around that. So, the collaborative environment that BIM provides allows all construction stakeholders to be on the same page as regarding information on their project. Insights for example from a Quantity Surveyor during the design stage will help to ensure that building materials that are selected are cost-efficient, insights from the Contractor would help to ensure that they are buildable. All of these insights are what BIM helps one to achieve even at the design stage and then in construction, the ability to visualize your concept contrary to the paper and 2D drawings that are graphical representations, what is needed now is graphical visualization where we can see the entirety of a project. In the case of a building, BIM allows you to walk inside the building before it is ever constructed. This process enables the decision-making process – these are things that cannot be achieved in a traditional 2D drawing. There are a lot of other advantages such as helping to reduce rework, wastage on-site, ensuring that sites are productive, and the other extensions of artificial intelligence also hold its numerous benefits.
Cost-padding. Accountability and transparency are issues that are easily tampered with but now with the presence of software that gives estimates for construction projects, do you believe that there might be some backlash or resistance by industry experts who benefitted from the traditional system?
This is a challenge to the adoption presently because there is corruption where people pad bills and add things that are not existing – these things would be mitigated by BIM and that is why there is a basic defence against its adoption but because the industry will evolve to get there whether those people like it or not, it will be adopted. If this category of people still refuse to adopt it, when clients begin to request for it, such professionals will not have a choice than to use it. Here some people have that thought that BIM is going to help reduce the ability to make excess money. This issue affects to an extent the credibility of the industry because if you have dealt with a client who you have given that impression, he carries that impression to other professionals they meet – with the belief that all construction workers and engineers are thieves. BIM would help to give a good name to the industry.
What are some of the benefits of BIM to the lay-man or end-user in general?
To the end-user they would not be concerned with how much it is to do BIM, it is the professionals that see the value and extends it to the client, in clear terms, explaining what they seek to gain by employing the method. For example, the reduction of wastage, if there is no waste on-site, it is still the client’s money that would be saved because if there is a waste on site the client will still one way or the other pay for it. So, BIM offers value for money as they can be sure that what they are paying for is what they are getting.
Who would you say benefits more from BIM; the client or the industry professional?
If our clients use BIM it makes our work easy, it also gives us more work to do but it gives the client value, however, finance is solely provided by the client. If construction professionals begin to see the benefits of using BIM and they put it as part of their services it gives them that advantage as they get to do more projects, and do a lot of other things but then they cannot directly charge that to the client.
What are the cost implications of using BIM for both the industrial worker and the client?
Currently, the cost implication is quite high because the number of people who have adopted it is not much. It is glaring, technology providers are business people, they are not a non-profit organization and also in our clime due to exchange rates it is much more expensive. For instance, a software that is $2,000, converting that to naira it becomes a lot of money but for a US contractor who wins $2 million in contract, that software price is nothing to him. The story will be different for a Nigerian client that earns in naira and wants to buy the same software in the dollar. However, if there is commercialization; a massive demand for it then the price would come down.
Which of the BIM software presently available is the best?
Autodesk TM is the industry leader when it comes to BIM software. There are other companies such as Bentley TM, NemetschekTM GraphisoftTM, there are a lot of them but the one with the most number of tools and with the largest users is Autodesk TM and they provide the Revit BIM tool – Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP. There are other tools like Navisworks, Infraworks, then they have a cloud software which is the BIM 360 – a common data environment where all of the data is expected to reside where anybody can access the data, these are the solutions it offers. We also have TeklaTM which has a TeklaTM BIM site which is a common data environment too with a lot of other tools. There is also ArchicardTM which is like a direct competitor to Revit – it is an authoring tool. There are also construction management tools which help to achieve construction processes; we have the Procure TM and a lot of others.
How can one acquire this software – are there any restrictions or limits?
Presently, Autodesk TM has authorized resellers in Nigeria; about 20 of them – Nigerian companies that help to sell the software. To buy you only need to approach them – they work with a regional distributor Ideate TechnologiesTM a firm based in South Africa who gets software licenses directly from Autodesk TM. The challenge that brought about this system was before 2012 or 2011, the companies in Nigeria dealt directly with Autodesk but Ideate came up and went to buy purchasing rights from Autodesk TM for all of Africa.
In your opinion what is the future of the construction industry?
There will be a lot of disruption and that is why much as we keep talking, we should work and because there is a generational movement, the professionals in the industry presently, who were raised traditionally find it hard to cope; we cannot blame them, it is difficult.
As an advocate for sustainability, how sustainable are the processing and products saturating the industry at the moment?
When it comes to the sustainability, of course, there are certifications that people get when they build but most of the products we use are not environmentally friendly, although some individuals are putting some effort to ensure that resources used are environment-friendly but it is not massive enough. As an industry, as regulations, or as government however, they are not concerned about the sustainability of materials.
Should we look forward to more affordable housing such as modular structures?
If we look at the infrastructure for example where you have a factory and there is no light or raw material – it is difficult, but it does not mean that it is not possible. When people begin to see the benefits, these things will come in.
