Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a hot topic in the last months and today is available to everybody. So, can it be really useful in our daily life? What about our work? And, if some businesses start using AI to perform some or all their core tasks, have those business a real advantage?
My company’s work is focussed in consultancy for the engineering and construction market. Consultancy is a business highly dependent of know-how and experience. Our products are documents based on facts that are analyzed using best-practices and world- recognized standards, using that know-how and experience.
What's the best way to use an artificial intelligence assistant in a consultancy business in the engineering and construction field?
A couple of days ago I downloaded an AI assistant software and asked the following question: What's the best way to use an artificial intelligence assistant in a consultancy business in the engineering and construction field?
Here comes its answer:
“An artificial intelligence assistant can be extremely beneficial in a consultancy business in the engineering and construction field. Here are some ways it can be used:
1. Data analysis: An AI assistant can analyze large amounts of data quickly, which can help you identify patterns, trends, and insights.
2. Predictive modeling: With the help of an AI assistant, you can create models that can predict future scenarios based on past data, which can help you make better decisions.
3. Automated reporting: An AI assistant can automatically generate reports based on data it has analyzed, saving you time and effort.
4. Virtual assistants: You can use AI-powered virtual assistants to provide guidance to clients 24/7. This can also help you increase your customer satisfaction rate.
5. Chatbots: Chatbots can be used to provide quick answers to customer queries and to direct them to specific resources on your website.
6. Safety monitoring: An AI assistant can monitor safety data in real-time, identifying potential hazards before they become accidents.
Overall, an AI assistant can help you streamline your operations, reduce costs, and improve your decision-making process.”
All right, just to be fair, that answer seems pretty reasonable, but so far reflects the AI assistants’ capacity to deal with large amounts of data and extract tendencies and forecasts, as well as answer typical questions from customers. The key being “so far”.
Can AI have the equivalent to a “professional opinion” or an “expert opinion”? Putting aside the moral component of this issue, it seems pretty obvious that sooner or later (probably sooner rather than later), AI systems will be able to provide technical opinions indistinguishable from professional opinions from human experts. With one important difference: AI systems are able to take into consideration all data available form any valid source and therefore AI expert opinions (there is no way here to use the “professional” label) have the potential of being more reliable than human expert opinions.
What that does mean for businesses like consultancy in any field? We are here talking about lawyers and tax advisors also, mathematicians, researchers, etc. The main challenge to use AI assistants is to ask the right questions, to load all the relevant data, the facts, since the AI assistant will have (actually, it already has) the capacity of selecting all the relevant standards, regulations, laws, precedents, best practices and the professional opinion of human experts that dealt with similar cases before.
How can we, the consultants, compete with that? I believe that we can not. AI is here to stay and it will thrive.
I am not talking here about the small and repetitive tasks such as find tendencies and develop forecast from large amount of data or answer typical questions from customers, which is already being done (like the chatbots, that now almost every bank, insurance company and medical service supplier seem to have). Those task must be delegated to AI systems or the costs battle will destroy the “late adopters”.
I am talking about the core of the consultancy services: the expert opinion. Our best chance is to assimilate AI in our businesses and use it as our own “expert consultant”. The human consultant focus must be in selecting and loading the right data, developing the right questions and assess the "AI-assistant´s expert opinion" obtained. Speed and accuracy will leave no alternative to human consultancy services. The “early adopters” will have a real advantage.
As it seems pretty obvious, right now I am exploring how to incorporate AI into my own business. There is no time to lose.
In times of change, when agility and economy are needed at all levels, the use of specialized services provides that precise mix of capacity, effectiveness and efficiency that organizations need to succeed.
At DC&R we are able to meet these requirements with professional solvency and the experience of more than 25 years in complex engineering and construction environments for heavy industrial markets of high demand such as mining, gas & oil, or energy, as well as for infrastructure and commerce.
DC&R also offers technical assistance services to businesses that need to interact with engineering and construction companies, from tender and project management to contract administration.