One of the construction industry’s longstanding challenges is effectively adopting new digital innovation strategies. This mainly results from a fragmented ecosystem, where many construction projects involve a blend of subcontractors, suppliers, and stakeholders, leading to a lack of standardised digital solutions across all parties.
The sector’s investment in AI further highlights this lag in digital innovation compared to related industries. For example, leading data and analytics company predicts that total AI spending in the construction sector will exceed $25bn in 2029, which is significantly lower than the $41.3bn expected in manufacturing. However, AI use cases have become more apparent within the sector, causing construction companies to rethink their strategies and invest in AI.
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So how exactly can the construction industry benefit from AI?
How AI can improve health and safety
According to the UK Health and Safety Executive, the construction sector accounted for more fatal workplace injuries than any other industry in the UK from 2024 to 2025.
AI implementation can help improve health and safety and reduce fatality rates in the future. For example, it can be crucial in hazard detection and prediction on construction sites. Cameras and drones equipped with computer vision can continuously scan construction sites to identify hazardous conditions such as workers not wearing personal protective equipment, individuals entering danger-flagged zones, or machinery operating too close to workers. Balfour Beatty began mandating the use of AI-powered cameras to reduce site fatalities. These cameras are mounted in machine blind spots, with AI software that detects the human form and triggers alerts when a potential risk arises.
How AI can tackle environmental challenges
On the environmental front, AI can reduce carbon emissions by facilitating smarter decisions across a project’s life cycle. During the design phase, AI-powered generative design and building information modelling integrations can accurately test thousands of material and layout options, highlighting the most carbon-efficient practices.
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By GlobalDataStantec used Autodesk’s Forma, an AI-powered cloud software tool for planning and design. Forma includes a carbon analysis tool, and by using Stantec’s baseline conditions for its Vancouver project, it was able to predict the project’s total embodied carbon. Using this information, Stantec decided to alter the composition of the lower towers from hybrid concrete to mass timber. This reduced the total embodied carbon across the whole site by around 42,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
How AI can enhance planning and design
AI can even be integrated to improve the planning and design stages of a project. Generative AI includes self-learning algorithms that use existing data such as text, audio, or images, to produce realistic new content. Construction companies can train these algorithms using historical project data – such as blueprints, aesthetic guidelines, and design constraints – to generate a wide range of design options for planning teams to consider. With this tool, teams can spend their time evaluating and choosing feasible plans rather than creating them from scratch.
Generative AI also helps refine and optimise existing designs to maintain quality. Furthermore, it can produce detailed 3D models that improve the accuracy of building representations and help identify and avoid design conflicts. Bentley Systems uses generative AI in its OpenSite+ tool to allow engineers to design projects up to ten times faster and with greater accuracy.
AI – a powerful asset in construction
Ultimately, AI can be deployed into several segments of the construction industry’s value chain to enhance health and safety, boost efficiency, and contribute to climate sustainability goals. A major issue when it comes to adoption is the technology’s associated costs. Developing a suitable model, or outsourcing one from a vendor, may be too expensive for smaller to medium-sized construction companies, resulting in only the dominant players having the ability to invest and benefit from AI.
