The assessment of the construction industry by the degree of artificial intelligence implementation was proposed at the RUSSIA EXPO

The Expert Group on AI implementation under the Russian Ministry of Construction has proposed to create a unified methodology for assessing artificial intelligence in the construction industry. The methodology should show the degree of readiness of companies to artificial intelligence and become a springboard for creating a register of domestic solutions in the field of AI.

The proposal was voiced at the session "Artificial Intelligence in Development: from Ideas to Innovations" within the RUSSIA EXPO at VDNH. The discussion was attended by Deputy Minister of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation Konstantin Mikhailik, Managing Director for IT and Digital Transformation of DOM.RF Nikolai Kozak, representatives of the National Center for the Development of Artificial Intelligence under the Government of the Russian Federation, the Alliance for the Development of AI, the ANO "Digital Economy", and major developers.

"It is important for us as a country to support the transition from extensive to intensive way of economic development, and in this the introduction of artificial intelligence will play a crucial role. AI will help replace typical uncomplicated functions in companies, increasing productivity. The construction industry is no exception. The task of using artificial intelligence in key sectors of the economy was set by the President, and he emphasized it in his recent address to the Federal Assembly. This work is already being carried out by many industry participants with the support of the authorities. We can already assess the solutions that have found active application in domestic construction companies. Now the main question is how to unite everyone so that there would be common approaches in the industry, as well as healthy competition, which is necessary for the formation of the most effective practices and fulfillment of state tasks," Konstantin Mikhailik said.

He also noted that the construction industry faces the task not only to introduce AI technologies into business processes, but also to achieve the development of regulatory and legal framework for AI.

Nikolai Kozak, Managing Director for IT and Digital Transformation of DOM.RF, said that in order to create a register of domestic AI solutions, the experts of the working group have already started collecting data from companies. 

"We will have to assess the penetration of artificial intelligence technologies in the housing construction industry. We expect most of the real estate developers to participate in the assessment. The plan is to finalize the analysis this year and start creating a register of domestic AI solutions. Training and methodological support are important tasks that the participants of the Expert Group should also focus on. To address the shortage of profile specialists with AI skills, we have created our own training course and have already launched it on a popular online platform," summarized Nikolai Kozak.

Training specialists in the field of AI is one of the tasks of the federal project "Artificial Intelligence" of the national project "Digital Economy".

As part of the expert session, the participants shared their experience in implementing AI tools in their work. For example, Ekaterina Linkevich, Chief Data Officer of the Airplane Group, said that the company uses AI for scaling tasks, labour productivity growth and new product launches.

"We actively use artificial intelligence to control deadlines and order at the construction site, monitor internal finishing during construction. All this allows us to significantly save money and improve the quality of work," summarized Ekaterina Linkevich.

Albina Mukhametyanova, Head of the Analytical Department of the National Center for the Development of Artificial Intelligence under the Government of the Russian Federation, talked about the AI maturity of key industries: "NCDAI, with the support of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, has been assessing the level of readiness of priority industries of the country for the introduction of AI annually since 2021. The research is conducted in 18 industries, and for each industry the AI Index is calculated for 33 indicators. According to the research results, over the last two years, the average level of AI implementation in industries has increased by 1.5 times, and in the leading industries this indicator exceeds 50%".

Kirill Solntsev, Executive Director of the AI Development and Machine Learning Department at Sber, emphasized the importance of uniting the efforts of market players:

"In 2019, Russia's largest companies created the AI Alliance. Its main mission is to become a driver of AI development to ensure the country's technological leadership. Now there are 11 companies in the alliance, with the ecosystem of the alliance constantly expanding. Industry clubs are being created with the participation of big business and AI vendors. They are already working more point-by-point on their agenda. Industry clubs in agribusiness and healthcare being examples of that."

Plans to analyze the role of AI in construction were outlined by Alexei Sidoryuk, Director of the Digital Transformation of Industries Direction of the ANO "Digital Economy".

"This year we plan to make a joint study on the use of artificial intelligence in the construction, housing and utilities sectors. Today, the construction industry already has leading companies that have proven the effectiveness of AI through their experience. They implement solutions that allow them to correctly select a site for construction, monitor and control the construction progress at all stages, forecast the elasticity and dynamics of demand, the cost of component prices, generate internal layouts, and more. We hope that our research will help to reveal the experience of leaders and the achieved business effect from implementations, as well as the benefits for ordinary citizens," said Alexei Sidoryuk.

The International RUSSIA EXPO takes place on the territory of VDNH in Moscow from November 4 to July 8. Visitors are presented expositions of 89 regions of Russia, leading federal departments, corporations and public organizations. More than 10 million people have already visited the Exposition.