How Will AI Change the Built Environment?

ChatGPT: Hero or Villain?

ChatGPT is currently making headlines, if not actively writing them. ChatGPT is known as a large language model tool. This is a type of language processing technology that can read and summarise texts, predict words in sentences and generate similar sentences based on them.

Basically, it’s as close as AI gets to how real humans write and talk. This has set some alarm bells ringing, especially for people who write content for a living.

But aside from the fact that ChatGPT can’t demonstrate empathy to readers in the same way a human author can, what benefits might it offer?

It comes down to what AI is. It’s a tool. Sure, it’s advanced, but it’s still a tool all the same. Therefore, how you apply it determines its true value.

This brings us back to the built environment. ChatGPT will work for some business writing. Not the stuff that markets or sells services, but the more time-consuming tasks, such as writing detailed reports.

And the same rule applies as it does in any application that's data-reliant: garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) – providing you input all the necessary, relevant data correctly, ChatGPT will generate your report for you.

The thing to avoid is complacency – as a tool, ChatGPT is only as effective as the person wielding it. If you want your AI-generated reports to remain impactful, you should check them thoroughly and edit them where required.

Disruptive Technology

The pace of change is accelerating and ultimately AI will impact everyone in the built environment.

Most of AI’s possibilities and potential come from software or how it’s incorporated into devices and machinery.

These applications have seen AI progressing from a largely academic status to a phenomenon that promises to be widespread and widely adopted.

This will change society and how we work. It will be highly disruptive, in the way that the technology of the first Industrial Revolution was highly disruptive.

Technology has begun to transform the built environment when we consider CAD design and BIM (building information modelling.

More and more professionals are incorporating these tools into their core working practices.

AI will further expand the potential of technology, enhancing BIM and analysing available data precisely and rapidly.

Furthermore, the connectivity of AI and the internet of things extends beyond design functions to facilities management and the implementation, monitoring and maintenance of environmental conditions within buildings.

Working back from this, architects, designers and planners will need to incorporate these capabilities into their designs from the outset. We're living in the age of the smart building.

AI, big data and blockchain smart contracts should work together to create a built environment that’s more sustainable.

Beyond the immediate boundaries of individual boundaries, AI promises hyper-connectivity and the growth of entire smart cities – from driverless vehicles to fully automated infrastructures.

Earlier, back in the 20th century, this was the stuff of space-age fantasies. Now it’s an imminent reality for millions of us.

The Way Ahead for the Built Environment

Our business strategies will need to change, not only to adapt to the increasing adoption of AI within the industry but also to clients' expectations related to these changes.

Those working in a consultancy capacity will need to exercise sound judgement about how far they can allow AI to make decisions on their behalf.

And be aware of the extent to which it impacts their own, human, decision-making.

There is a whole area around AI and ethics that professionals in the built environment will need to address.

This reflects the massive implications AI has for society in general, from employment to education, service provision and beyond.

But however this plays out, placemaking should be at the heart of it.

The Pattern Panel

Pattern’s guests this time were:

Jemma Hynes, CEO, FoodSync

Adam Smith, Director, Vectos (part of SLR)

Stephen Morgan-Hyland, Managing Director, Maddox

and Emma Jones, Founder, Acer Town Planning

Pattern is a platform for discussing progressive placemaking ideas.

For more details, please contact william@partisan.studio