AI comes to the rescue of construction industry costs

The construction industry accounts for around USD 10 trillion annually – about 13 percent of the global GDP. But up to now, this sector has lagged behind in productivity gains. This is due largely to the fact that large projects involve many different sub-teams, each installing different components. It is impossible for managers to accurately track every aspect of such projects. It could be weeks or months before they realize an error was made. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, most large projects take 20 percent longer to finish than anticipated, and run up to 80 percent over budget. California-based startup Doxel is hoping to change this with an artificial intelligence system that can monitor every inch of a construction project and alert managers of potential cost overruns, inefficiencies and errors.We have already seen the use of drones and robots to navigate spaces people can’t reach. Some examples are a robot snake that can crawl through pipes and a robotic eel that can search out water pollution.