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In summer 2022, when artificial intelligence-based text-to-image generation tools hit the mainstream, architects were cautiously excited. The ease of generating real-ish images of design concepts and buildings with just a few simple sentences was irresistible, and many architects began experimenting with ways of letting AI quickly do some of the sketching and ideating they’d gotten used to spending hours or days laboring over. It’s almost like you’re speaking a building into existence, one architect said. But now, with AI maturing and getting integrated into tools and industries far and wide, a surprisingly low number of architects are actually using AI in their work. Architects are slow to adopt AI Only 6% of architects report regularly using AI for their jobs, and only 8% of architecture firms have implemented AI solutions, according to a new report from the American Institute of Architects. Based on a survey of 541 members of the architecture profession, the report shows an industry-wide shyness around AI adoption, with many unsure what AI can do for them, and a large percentage39%downright uninterested in finding out. Some architects are making AI a part of the way they practice, though, and the report shows strong interest in using AI more, particularly among architects younger than 50. The report finds that while only 8% of firms are actively using AI on a day-to-day basis, 20% are currently working on implementing AI solutions. More than half of architects have at least experimented with AI tools, and three-quarters are optimistic about AI automating some tasks. The reality is that there are a lot of industries that are still figuring this out, says Evelyn Lee, president of the AIA. I do think that architects, when it comes to new technology implementation, we do tend to lag a little bit. But there’s big opportunity Lee, who has a tech background, says architects can do more with AI than just generate quick imagery. Other use cases include marketing, project management, and construction document creation. According to the report, image-based content production is still the main way architecture firms use AI, but Lee suggests that the tech may be more useful for the operational side of the business, where it could resolve simple tasks, like eliminating the need for manual time sheets, as well as more labor-intensive jobs, like maintaining and updating building material libraries. “There’s a really big opportunity there for AI to illuminate the library and the wealth of materials available right now,” she says. “So much of what we learn about new materials is from the individual manufacturer’s rep showing up and saying Here is the latest ceiling tile. That could help architects improve the way their projects are designed, lower their costs, and even reduce their environmental footprint by finding new sustainable materials to integrate into their projects. AI tools could speed up product delivery The biggest opportunity ultimately is on the product delivery side, Lee says. As AI begins to be more fully integrated into the software that architects use to design their projects, it can speed up the process of turning design concepts into detailed plans and eventually into the construction documents used to get projects built. That could open the door for smaller architecture firms to be more competitive. There are more than 19,000 architecture firms in the U.S., and almost three-quarters of them have fewer than 10 employees, according to another recent AIA report. The software will allow them to do more, quicker, better, Lee says. That’s a huge opportunity for AI to be leveraged to democratize the design delivery process.
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For the first two-and-a-half years of the generative AI revolution, the AI arms race has been waged between competing companies seeking to make bank from the promise and potential of the technology. But things are maturing in the AI worldand with it, theres another frontline for AI: the military. Scale AI, the company set up by Alexandr Wang, has been awarded what CNBC reports is a multimillion-dollar deal to help develop Thunderforge, which the U.S. Department of Defense calls an initiative designed to integrate artificial intelligence into military operational and theater-level planning, and fusing cutting-edge modeling and simulation tools. Wang told CNBC that our AI solutions will transform todays military operating process and modernize American defense and that they will provide our nations military leaders with the greatest technological advantage. The move is unsurprisingmilitaries are always keen on keeping at the cutting edge of technology, trying to eke out an advantage against competitive armiesbut disappointing, says Margaret Mitchell, researcher and chief ethics scientist at Hugging Face, an AI company. We already know we’re moving forward to push AI systems farther and farther out from our control, she says. Many in the industry and in the media are treating more and more powerful systems as if they are inevitable, and therefore making it so. Mitchell adds that technology has always relied on military clientele to act as a crucible for, and accelerant of, new innovation. Military use has long been a staple of technological development, she says. Massively destructive outcomes are fully predictable based on history and how the tech marketplace works. (Scale AI declined to comment. The Defense Department did not respond to Fast Company‘s request for comment.) That level of destruction could be catastrophic, argues David Krueger, assistant professor at the University of Montreal, studying AI safety and risk. I think its likely to lead to the end of humanity, to human extinction, he says, speaking generally about the use of AI for military purposes, calling the military use of AI one of the most obvious ways in which AI poses an existential risk to humanity. Krueger says that AI is being used in many areas to hand off human control and outsource it to AI systems. I think this is a risk in every domain, and I think in the military, its particularly concerning, and something which will require international collaboration to avoid getting out of hand and risking human extinction. Scale AI has said that the Thunderforge program will operate with human oversight, and Noah Sylvia, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), points out that as AI functions go, I would say it is not as controversial as a lot of other ones, because this is what you could term an enterprise function. Scale AI is far from the only company to ink a deal with the U.S. military to leverage the power of AI to support such activities. A number of companies have also agreed terms to provide their AI technology for military purposes. I think part of the reaction is because they started out in a very civilian-oriented company, and over the past few months, especially, we’ve seen all of these civilian companies suddenly turn towards defense more, says Sylvia. Indeed, the press release by the Defense Innovation Unit announcing Scale AIs deal for Thunderforge points out the same program will also include Andurils Lattice software platform and state of the art LLMs enabled by Microsoft. I struggle to see a way out of it, says Hugging Face’s Mitchell. Even if individual countries or companies were to decide to step aside from using AI for military purposes, or to decline to provide support to countries that are seeking military AIas Hugging Face has refused to do in the pastothers would likely step into the breach. We need some ability to coordinate to prevent actors from building AI systems, says the University of Montreal’s Krueger. I think that should bein factthe number-one priority in foreign policy for every country at this point because its an incredibly important issue, and its going to be difficult to address it. Developing cross-country guidelines for how to consider the use of AI in military environments will be vital in the future, says Mitchell. She suggests a multipoint plan that includes keeping AI systems within strict operational boundaries, making it impossible for systems to autonomously deploy weapons, introducing safety mechanisms, and advancing whats deemed state of the art in input data analysis and output evaluation to gain a deeper understanding into what systems can and cannot do. She also has two simpler suggestions. Do not deploy technology whose actions you cannot reasonably foresee, she says. And secondly: Do not fully cede human control.
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Most of us want to remain in our existing homes as we grow older. The practice of aging in place aligns with preferences for familiar places and routines and preserves our sense of independence. These preferences, though, raise questions about what support seniors want and need in their current homes. Japan has advanced the use of robotics specifically for this purpose, with mixed results. Despite these early results, the continued development of robotics and artificial intelligence to assist those aging in place seems obvious. Whats less obvious is how seniors foresee AI and robots living alongside them and what specifically they envision these things doing.To better understand how seniors want AIs and robots to help in their homes, we asked them. We recruited seniors from the MIT AgeLabs research cohorteach around 70 years old and in the early stages of retirementand then engaged in wide-ranging conversations about their aspirations and fears about these technologies. This framework distinguishes between digital and physical AIs and outlines the key ways theyre meant to help people in their homes. [Image: courtesy Teague] During these conversations, we explored various forms of both digital and physical AIeverything from digital assistants to handy robotseach with different capabilities and limitations. The result: Here are four types of AIs that could operate in the future lives of seniors at home, along with what present-day seniors think of them, and the key considerations well need to account for when designing them. Advisor AI A digital presence that suggests solutions to problems, surfaces opportunities, and helps its person remember to do things. Examples: The AI helps verify the veracity of unfamiliar communications like scam phone calls; identifies activities of interest and assists in planning how to participate; offers timely reminders to take medications; and prompts calls to friends and family members on their birthdays. What seniors think: Thanks to established assistants like Amazons Alexa and Apples Siri, seniors say theyre already familiar with this form of AI, both inside and outside their homes, and can easily anticipate its further evolution. Moving forward, though, seniors want more from the Advisor archetype. They want the Advisor to go beyond pragmatic help with reminders about daily life and grow into helping them with their social well-being. This will mean providing actionable support with emotional concerns, especially social isolation, by surfacing and facilitating a seniors human connections. Butler Robot AI A physical presence that attends to its person by assisting with dynamic needs, such as deliveries, health, and home monitoring. Examples: The AI robot lifts a delivery from the porch to the foyer; assists in turning off the water at the source of a leak in the kitchen; and renders assistanceand summons help, if neededin the event of a fall. What seniors think: Due to the confluence of connected personal devices like smartwatches and earbuds with connected home devices such as smart thermostats and automated lighting, seniors believe there are increasingly complex interactions between their bodies and their homes. So they see how an AI robot helping to manage these complexities could reduce their cognitive load. They also acknowledge, though, that this form of AI in the home is far from simple in its creation and requires a lot of features and expansive capabilities. Just like a human butler, here theres a distinct possibility of robots just for rich people, which will require breakthroughs in manufacturability and new business models to avoid. Conductor AI A digital presence that operates connected systems of modules such as wheeled porters and object lifters. Examples: The AI responds to voice commands to transport meals from the kitchen to the living room with a wheeled porter; elevates an adjustable-height table adjacent to the dryer to ease folding clothes; and summons an autonomous vacuum to address a spill. What seniors think: This is a challenging archetype for seniors to conceptualize in their homes since it exists beyond any present-day solutions. Nonetheless, theyre compelled by the prospect of an overarching, digital administrator of a set of modular, task-driven devices. Perhaps because its the least familiar to them in terms of having existing corollaries, seniors are less confident in speculative interactions with this archetype because an AI with a lot of control must earn a lot of trust. At the same time, they see this form of AI as capable of adapting to their changing physical needs as they age simply through the addition of new connected devices. This will mean creating sets of modules that can be added and subtracted, potentially through subscription models. Valet Robot AI A physical presence that attends to its person by helping with everyday tasks, such as cleaning, dressing, and grooming. Examples: The AI robot replaces a light bulb in high-ceiling recessed lighting; helps a person put on their socks and pants; cleans everyday surfaces such as kitchen and bath countertops; and dusts bookshelves and framed prints. What seniors think: Seniors equate the possibilities of this form of AI in the home with early home robots such as iRobots Roomba vacuum. While the focus of this archetype is on everyday tasks that include common housecleaning (versus the dynamic tasks of the Butler Robot AI archetype), it also includes help with everyday personal tasks like dressing and grooming. Interestingly, here seniors have some concerns about this form of AI helping in ways that bring it into physical contact with their bodies. This will require forms of this AI that are aesthetically compatible with seniors for such personal interactions.
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