- AI then offers further suggestions on how the design can be fabricated or manufactured and any design considerations or modifications to be made.
- The engineer ultimately selects a suggestion and proceeds with the actual implementation.
Image: HANDOUT
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has recently opened up hordes of tools to increase industrial productivity.
The question is - Can AI result in Engineers losing their relevance? Will AI eventually replace the role of Engineers? What are the threats that AI poses to Engineers?
First, AI is a computer-based large repository of knowledge that responds to prompts by a user.
It is interesting to note that AI itself is created by humans, and is trained to respond to queries in a certain set of responses by extracting information from its repositories.
Some of the popular AI tools currently are ChatGPT, Bard, BingAI and YouChat. These are chatbots that respond to inputs from the user, similar to Google whose reservoir of knowledge is trusted by many worldwide.
Now AI takes it to the next level. If you were to make a query on AI chatbots for ideas on how to create a master plan for an organization, you would be surprised by the suggestions the AI can generate.
The responses can even be in over 250 languages based on their trained "memory".
This poses a threat to some careers but can be an opportunity for others.
Let's consider Engineers. As an example, an engineer wants to design a product. With the capabilities of AI, the engineer can get suggestions from AI on the step-by-step design process on how to execute the design.
The power of AI goes ahead to propose the possible designs and the engineer chooses their preferred design.
AI then offers further suggestions on how the design can be fabricated or manufactured and any design considerations or modifications to be made.
The engineer ultimately selects a suggestion and proceeds with the actual implementation.
In this case, what used to take a whole day of analysis and days of modifying designs is now literally done in seconds by AI.
If an electrical engineer wants to design the power distribution system for a building, AI can provide the design, and all the safety provisions for the engineering system, suggest the conformity to industry standards and guide the engineer on the procedure to perform the wiring.
Within the same building, a mechanical engineer wants to install a backup diesel generator that needs maintenance after 3000 hours of operation, AI provides detailed guidelines to be followed to synchronize the steps that occur when there is a blackout.
All the steps can be well designed and quickly made efficient through the application of AI.
The civil engineer is also influenced by AI since the regenerative tool can analyze all the forces and stress points in a proposed building and even provide an analysis for various load ranges.
Some engineering drawings are written in a foreign language which takes time to interpret.
Well, AI can scan the drawings and provide a translated copy of the same document, helping the engineer quickly understand the design drawings.
For a chemical engineer who is required to design a paint mixing process to prevent the spread of dangerous fumes emanating from the paint, the application of AI can detail all the steps to be taken to design a fume evacuation system for the safety of other users in the building.
However, there is another critical part - the physical execution.
No matter the capability of AI, we still need the electrical engineer to inspect the wiring in a building and to connect the building to the main utility power; we need the electrical engineering technical teams to physically connect the cables according to their colour codes; the mechanical engineer to perform maintenance of generators and ensure the filters, oil, coolants and the nozzles in the fuel pump are in good condition; the chemical engineer to check the fume evacuation system and gas sensors that will trigger warnings in case there are leakages in the system and also to check chemical mixing ratios for the paint manufacturer; the civil structural engineer must inspect and ensure the adequacy of the formwork, reinforcement and concrete mix for a reinforced concrete building.
Another thing to note is, that the human being is still required to verify the output from AI because, at times, AI can make mistakes. Why? The knowledge stored in AI is a regurgitation of knowledge that was previously written into it, so it has a duration of relevance.
Consequently, engineers are still very much needed to harness the tremendous capabilities of AI to suit the role he or she is performing and make their engineering work more productive.
With the advancement of such technologies, engineers are now updating their knowledge through IEK capacity-building programs and other sources to keep up with the trend.
Cutting out repetitive tasks using AI frees up time for execution of other engineering services and self-development, making for continuous improvement and thriving as an Engineer.
This year, let us remember to celebrate all engineers in Kenya who are constantly working to improve and apply technologies that better the quality of our lives.
Eng Grace Muthoni Kagondu is 1st Vice President of The Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK)