Keynote speech by Niki Popper at the IREM Symposium 2024

This year’s IREM Symposium 2024 and the Industrial Construction Seminar at TU Wien focussed intensively on the topic of ‘The future of industrial construction: transformation through AI’. Professor Ian Smith from TÜ Munich opened the event with a keynote lecture. A large number of renowned speakers presented different perspectives on the role of AI in production and industrial construction. Topics such as digitalisation, lean and sustainability were at the forefront and were discussed using real-life case studies. The participants experienced an exciting exchange that highlighted both the opportunities and risks of AI.

Niki Popper, representing TU Wien and dwh GmbH, concluded the symposium with a keynote speech on ‘AI as a risk’. The title of his speech was: ‘Artificial intelligence and simulation - please refer to the package insert for risks and opportunities’. This speech outlined what a necessary ‘AI instruction leaflet’ in the construction industry should look like, because it is important not only to understand the change in everyday working life triggered by AI, but also to actively help shape it and to be aware of all the ‘side effects’.

The dwh GmbH has been working for more than a decade on the modeling and improvement of various processes in the construction industry. One project that demonstrates how AI can support the construction sector and help achieve different goals such as sustainability and resource conservation is the BrAIn project—Bridge Management with AI for Sustainability. More information can be found here: https://www.dwh.at/news/brain-tu-/

The title image is from the website https://www.rem.uni-stuttgart.de/irem/events/symposium/symposium-2024/