APPRAISING THE BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE NIGERIAN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Abstract

The construction industry is currently experiencing a transformation from traditional, hierarchically organised construction sites to digital and more autonomous ones. A shift is taking place, and the development of digital is advancing so fast that the industry struggles to keep up. In view of this, the study was aimed at appraising the benefits and challenges of implementing artificial intelligence in the Nigerian construction industry. The study adopted a mixed-methods research design that combined both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The research population for the quantitative data was the 255 construction firms registered with the Abuja Business Directory. Out of which, a sample size of 150 was obtained. While the population for the qualitative data were construction professionals domiciled in Abuja, using the simple random sampling method, the collected data from the questionnaire were analysed using the mean item score (RII), and the qualitative analysis was done using interviews and analysis carried out using deductive analysis. The study revealed that 46.7% of the sampled professionals were not aware of the implementation of AI in industry. The findings revealed the most important benefit of artificial intelligence (AI) implementation in the construction industry is “job creation” (MIS = 4.55). The findings revealed the most significant challenges faced in the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the construction industry: “AI technologies require high initial costs to obtain accurate data” (MIS = 4.60). It was therefore concluded that the application of AI tools would significantly improve practices on construction sites in Abuja. There is therefore a need for construction firms to embrace the use of AI tools to improve the safety performance and practices of their employees. It was recommended that the majority of construction professionals have insufficient knowledge about the use of AI tools at building sites. Consequently, it is necessary to arrange seminars, workshops, and conferences to enlighten these experts about the advantages of using AI tools on construction sites.