Hitachi hosts AI community session on generative AI in construction

Hitachi, Ltd. held the 10th session of its internal AI promotion community, known as ‘AI Cafe,’ featuring a guest lecture from Shimizu Corporation regarding the integration of generative AI within the construction industry.

Shimizu Corporation’s Kei Furukawa discussed the practical challenges of moving from simple AI implementation to deep organizational integration. Key topics included overcoming technical and organizational barriers, utilizing hands-on seminars and internal hackathons to foster adoption, and establishing a collaborative structure between field workers, vendors, and internal AI teams.

The discussion highlighted that while generative AI is effectively streamlining administrative tasks like document creation and information retrieval, automating physical construction work remains a significant challenge due to the unique, non-standardized nature of construction sites. Future prospects include the potential for physical AI and robotics to automate onsite operations.