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the operational context is variable. This includes The need for AI automation to cut costs through
IOT, drones, robotic assembly lines, aerospace, efficiency gains and reduced labour requirements is
defense, medicine and the environment. A good obvious. The industry’s focus is now on determining
example of an industry that was a late entrant to the repetitive, well-documented tasks in construction
AI space is construction. workflows. By partnering with the leading Canadian
construction company Pomerleau, we completed
CONSTRUCTION IS CATCHING UP a POC project to automate one vital, labour-
intensive task: evaluating preconstruction planning
The reputation of the construction industry documents and engineering specifications. Before
as a technology laggard is ending--and with striking ground, plans for complex construction
good reason. In Canada, the sector is grappling projects undergo routine readjustments and
with severe labour shortages and supply chain changes--sometimes more than 20 times a day.
disruptions due to the pandemic. These are but a The constant need to adjust orders with suppliers
few factors that cause construction costs to soar, of building materials cuts into the time project
which Statistics Canada estimated last year to manager have to mitigate risks and provide up-to-
have inflated the price for non-residential projects date information for accurate estimates of project
by 8.3% and residential projects by 20.3%. Since costs.
governments are investing heavily in infrastructure
projects to stimulate economic development, Construction companies are fortunate in that
constraints on supplies of labour and building images of construction plans are plentiful.
materials will remain a long-term challenge. Associating the amount of building materials, like
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