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CAREERTIP: Construction Professionals should start treating AI like a new colleague

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Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t going away and construction professionals need to embrace it and start working with it as if it were a new colleague. Across all industries, including construction, the adoption of AI is rapidly gaining momentum. This is because technology has finally advanced to the point where it can handle the complex and unstructured data involved in construction projects. Experts predict that AI will continue to develop into what they call "composite AI." Construction professionals, however, have some concerns about adopting AI. These concerns include: Regulatory Framework: Construction professionals must ensure that they comply with all applicable laws and regulations. They must also protect themselves, as AI can be programmed with specific guidelines to produce desired outputs. Ethics : There are important legal and ethical issues to consider when using AI. For example, who is liable if something goes wrong? Who is responsible if a disaster occurs as
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OPINION: Built Environment Professionals have a role to play in minimizing the activities of the 'construction mafia'

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 Even though Nancy Ronoh believes Government should shoulder most of the blame as far as the construction mafia is concerned she also says Construction/Built Environment Professionals can do their bit to minimize the activities of the mafia.

The 'construction mafia' and their activities seem to have gained traction if the headlines are anything to go by and I believe the reason behind this traction is that has been no government intervention. In most instances the police do nothing when contractors report construction mafia activity. Therefore the mafia have the power and confidence to continue. This has negatively impacted the Construction/Built Environment Industry. In an economy with high unemployment rates the industry needs projects to run successfully and companies to profit to ensure they can keep employing people. Every stoppage by the mafia is a loss for the whole industry.

As industry professionals we also  have a role to play to minimize the impact the mafia has on the industry. We should do our bit to ensure that the projects we are involved in adheres to labour laws and we should also promote skills development in the communities where the projects take place. To make this possible we also need government and law enforcement to play their role in protecting companies to ensure projects are completed without interruption.

ALSO READ: There is more to the 'construction mafia' than meets the eye

There are also suggestions that as a compromise the industry should absorb the “construction mafia” .I do not think this is feasible. In my experience these guys are not interested in construction as much as they are interested in profiting, therefore I do not believe this is a feasible way forward.

Nancy Ronoh is a Project Quantity Surveyor and an Entrepreneur

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