Year after year, technology and innovation foster phenomenal solutions that help to make the impossible possible. Yet, the conversation around the impact of automation almost always includes questions like, ‘what will the metaverse mean for the future of work?’ And the more common ‘how will it change how we operate; will I be replaced by an AI bot?’
The reality, reveals Naji Atallah, head of Construction and Manufacturing, Autodesk, is that it is actually a positive opportunity to streamline operations and create better, more valuable jobs. Autodesk believes that automation will pave the way for skilled employees to collaborate with robots on more projects than ever.
Leading the evolution
Historically, the introduction of new technology throughout the generations has fostered shifts in the way we work and live.
According to economist Gary Schilling and several other economists, the economy has a tendency to react to turbulent times or periods of change by evolving and providing new opportunities for humans to collaborate, and more importantly, to coexist with technology.
So, while automation will inevitably change how we work, embracing this technology can facilitate new opportunities never believed possible and Autodesk believes that digitisation is what enables the future of work.
The Museum of the Future and automation
Digitisation, explains Atallah, enables the future of work in the construction industry. Looking to the future, he says, “I see many more partnerships between humans and automation including design, advanced algorithms, or machine learning. So in a design process in the future, instead of designers working on how they actually want that design to look, rather they would explain the constraints to an algorithm.”
In Dubai’s Museum of the Future, the structure was a partnership between an algorithm and the designer Shaun Killa. “As a result, they reduced the number of notes on that structure by 40 percent,” he says, and reduced the weight of the structure by 30 percent. This made it 30 percent less material used in this project with a positive environmental impact.
“I believe that technology is enabling us as a construction community to do more, but do it with less negative impact on the planet.” And today, with 3D building information management models, the construction industry business model is transitioning into a manufacturing player, subsequently reducing the work by an unprecedented 20 percent.
Adherence to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Autodesk believes that automation technology, including artificial intelligence, is needed to help businesses and society meet the demands of our growing and urbanising global population. Aligned with SDGs, Atallah believes that sustainability is the why and automation is the how. “Automation serves us to do better things, sustainably.”
He adds that 30 percent of solid human waste comes from construction /demolition of facilities; so by reducing material and the work on the site, and by using digital technology, we are actually reducing that impact. He adds, “Even at post-handover of an asset, our built environment uses 40 percent of power, 40 percent of freshwater expenditure, and 30 percent in general of carbon dioxide emissions come from the built environment.”
So having newer technologies like digital twins that monitor how the users are actually consuming those resources in the building and optimising them enable less negative impact.
Endless possibilities
Autodesk fosters automation and humans working synergistically, inculcating machine learning, generative design, and advanced algorithms. And with the UAE, KSA and the wider Middle East on an upward trajectory to becoming one of the most innovative regions in the world, automation and technology will be critical to supporting the region and to power these economic ambitions.
Digitisation is not only shifting the construction and architecture industries, but are reshaping the automotive industry. It has joined the digitisation bandwagon by inculcating Autodesk’s Metaverse, a digital virtual space for people to interact and collaborate with things and places. Previously utilised by Honda, Autodesk are also behind the VR for Facebook’s Metaverse, enabling multiple industries to adapt to a brand-new business reality.
For a better world
Integrating tech and automation for designing a better world, Autodesk believes that digital transformation, including artificial intelligence, is needed to help businesses and society meet the demands of our growing and urbanising global population.
A shared goal can be achieved by a fruitful collaboration between humans and AI, and to support this objective, Autodesk offers innovative software, including Autodesk Revit, which is BIM software for designers, builders, and doers and enables model in 3D, streamline documentation, use of specialised tools in a unified BIM environment. Another is Autodesk Forge, a cloud-based developer platform from Autodesk.
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