As technology advances, companies across the housing industry are embracing practical AI tools to simplify their workflows and stay ahead of the curve. And with the construction industry’s ongoing labor shortage, training teams to adapt to this change has become more important.

Recent survey findings from the National Fire Protection Association show that the industry is widely embracing AI and digital tools while still recognizing that continued investment in training and professional development will be critical to meet heightened work demands.

How are construction pros implementing AI?

A majority of AI implementation is taking place across administrative tasks. According to the survey, 87% of respondents say that technology has made their job easier over the past five years, with 39% saying that AI and automation tools have the greatest impact.

How is AI impacting the construction workforce?

AI is helping teams simplify their administrative tasks, but it is also having an impact on the construction industry as demand for labor services related to AI infrastructure surges, as cited by 36% of survey respondents. However, 88% say that demand for their work overall has increased over the past three years.

This growing demand has made the implementation of AI across the industry much more prevalent. In an episode of the Women at WIRC podcast, Grace Mase, author of AI in Residential Construction, notes that growing demand and the ongoing labor shortage are key reasons builders are regularly implementing AI into their daily processes.

“If we start … using AI to help us do better on addressing some of these issues, not only will we improve our productivity, we'll also improve accuracy and make better decisions,” she says.

AI use has made training and educational programs more important

Rapid technology shifts across the industry have put a spotlight on the importance of training and education programs. As workers increasingly have to adapt to changing technologies, the amount of training sessions workers are attending has increased.

According to the survey, 94% of respondents participate in at least one training or development program per year, and 37% say they participate in one or more training sessions per month.