AI in my profession? AI in LIFE! 

Hello again, my friends. Welcome to today’s journey a blog I’ve poured my heart into. Version 1.2 as the first one was deleted 🙂

Now before we even begin, let me ask you something:

Why did I put “Superman” in the Header picture?
Let this question walk with you through each paragraph. Think about it, hold onto it, and I promise you, the answer will meet you at the end, just like a friend waiting at the final station of a long train ride.

Let’s dive in.

Have you ever looked at something so ancient that it felt futuristic? That’s how I feel every time I see Tutankhamun’s mask.
No welding. No trace of assembly. Just geometry. We tend to think AI is a modern era, a concept birthed in labs. But if you truly understand AI not just as technology, but as pattern, logic, and foresight; then maybe, just maybe, AI was alive long before we named it. The Pharaohs, with their intuitive grasp of harmony, weren’t they modelers of perfection? Their cities, statues, and systems echo something that we engineers strive for even today which is precision. It’s not that far to say that our ancestors were the first to simulate eternity and that AI was named something else in other ages.

Now let us go for the first section of our blog

What I think about the construction profession

As I introduced myself before, I am a construction engineering student at AUC. In Dr. Khaled Nassar’s Modeling and Simulation course, we didn’t learn equations; we lived them. We created scenarios, breathed life into models, and asked hard questions: What happens if productivity drops here? How does cost shift if the weather changes there? These weren’t just numbers. They were possible futures, played out before our eyes. And yet the one who excels in it, is the one who gains much money in the future! In Dr. Osama Hosni’s Planning and Risk Management classes, we didn’t just create Gantt charts; we simulated possibility. When we merged decision trees with AI, we saw the schedule evolve. It adapted, it reacted, and it forecasted delays before they happened. It taught me something deeply important: in construction, success isn’t just about being on time, it’s about being prepared. But here’s where I step in as Marwan not just a student, but a thinker. I believe AI is going to revolutionize our field even more than we expect. Having AI in structural design that not only follows the code, but learns from global projects and suggests lighter, stronger, and cheaper structural systems based on millions of past combinations. This will result in having optimized building process with minimal design errors. Also, AI in site logistics that maps out every movement on site to reduce accidents, optimize crane paths, and balance labor forces without ever needing a supervisor to supervise. As I believe this will hinder the workforce’s ability as they will feel haunted 24/7, this will be a great way to monitor the progress over time. Last but not least, AI in sustainability that doesn’t just calculate embodied carbon but redesigns the project live to meet green goals before a shovel hits the ground. As we go along the blog, I will discuss a workshop that I attended that reflected this idea. What excites me most is that AI is moving from being a tool to becoming a collaborator. In a few years, I see AI being as essential to engineers as AutoCAD or Excel. We are actually walking into a revolution.

Now let’s see what AI thinks about the profession

What AI thinks about the construction profession

https://chatgpt.com/share/681cdb4f-560c-8003-90c1-59d6100129e5

Here is what Chat GPT thinks. He almost seconds my thoughts and I believe he seconded Dr.May Haggag and Eng. Karim Abdelhady in their interviews that I’ll share as we go much deeper in the blog. But let us focus on our question. AI reflected on its own impact on the construction industry as it is rapidly reshaping the construction industry not by replacing engineers, but by amplifying their capabilities. Across every phase of a project, AI is bringing precision, prediction, and performance. For example, In the design and planning stage, AI enhances the Building Information Model (BIM) by automating clash detection and offering generative design options that balance cost, performance, and sustainability. During project management, AI tools predict delays, and budget overruns, and help adapt schedules in real time by learning from historical project data. In conclusion, AI is enabling smarter, safer, and more sustainable construction, ushering in a new era of intelligent building.

Now let us move to the interviews part.

Interviews

For interviews, I chose to interview Dr.May Haggag and Eng. Karim Abdelhady.

Dr. May Haggag’s interview summary:

she shared insightful perspectives on how AI is revolutionizing structural engineering and urban systems. She spoke about the shift from traditional lab testing to data-driven modeling techniques, highlighting the growing use of machine learning to predict building behavior and structural performance. She also discussed the role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in modeling climate impacts and integrating AI into urban planning, especially in projects aiming to increase city resilience in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). What stood out for me most about Dr. May’s interview was how confidently she positioned AI not just as a tool but as a helping hand for sustainability and resilience. She inspired me to think of AI not as a black box of code, but as a way of seeing the invisible forces shaping our built environment. As she spoke about predictive design and GIS integration, I immediately thought of my project in Dr. Mohamed El Zayat’s Solid and Hazardous Waste Management course, where I worked on recyclables and climate change. It was in that course that we used GIS to identify optimal landfill locations. Also, I made a video on climate change and recycling that Dr.Zayat shared on Linked In. Let me share it with you. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDPcsmdI0gJ/?igsh=bGt2dWxzNnpoamQ2

I also believe that this vision will be implemented in the smart cites such as ,The line, Neom in Saudi Arabia. Having such technology will revolutionize the construction industry 180 degrees. Let me show you the proposed design of Neom.

Also, this week I attended 2 workshops about AI in construction. The first one is about sustainability and AI and the other one is named asphalt pavement AI technologies. For the Asphalt Pavement technologies, Dr.Essam Sharaf, former prime minister made me amazed by what he said. What really stood out for me is his conviction that AI can optimize pavement design and save Egypt millions. He emphasized that pavement management engineers using AI can revolutionize the way we build roads, reducing costs, improving safety, and enhancing network performance. For the second workshop, Dr.Mohamed Nagib Abouzeid’s presentation about energy was the highlight for me when he said the what if theory. He first was talking about the concrete emissions of carbon dioxide and what if we substituted the cement with other material? like fabrics, glass, etc.. and we use AI to predict the concrete strength to match the exact one with binders. I stood and clapped. Chapeau Dr. Abouzeid. I really liked this idea and I believe I am going to investigate more in this issue.

Final words

I reflected throughout the blog, What I need to leave you with is that I am excited to work with the AI as a tool to help me excel in the field.  But as a bottom line, what I am looking forward to do right now is to have better AI literacy to sustain the market development. As we can see the market evolves and if I am not capable to evolve I would be left behind. But AI should be used as a tool as it can not replace any person, it helps the person to grow. Now I believe you get to know why I put Superman. Superman never goes to the sun to burn himself but to heal. He uses it as a tool to gain strength. That approach we should also use in life with AI. Let me leave you with a short poetry to express my final words.

Let AI think let data fly
But don’t forget the hands that try
Even Superman, with all his grace
Chose not to replace, but to keep our race

And on a personal note, I want to share something with you.
Writing this blog again after it got deleted was heartbreaking. I genuinely felt overwhelmed. But somehow, this second version 1.2 is better than 1.0. The Best is yet to come!

Wait for my next Blog!

Best,

Marwan