Gen AI (artificial intelligence) brings many benefits to many industries. Now, it can bring benefits to the classroom, as education will see an infusion of gen AI to help teach construction professionals at Western Michigan University and beyond.
Dr. Hexu Liu earned funding from an NSF (National Science Foundation) grant of nearly $300,000. The team launched a pilot program at WMU in September 2024. It will allow the university to develop an AI-powered training platform to enable gen AI and BIM (building information modeling) to bring a classroom project to life.
The training platform will include AI learning tools tailored to undergraduate construction education, which will address some of the hurdles currently faced in individualized learning, curriculum design, and instructor support.
Here is how this can help in education:
- Transform how digital skills are taught
- Close the skills gap
- Prepare the workforce for the future of construction
Looking to the future, the platform will be adopted into WMU’s curriculum. The objective will also include a web-based platform, integrated with ChatGPT, to deliver an interactive, self-pace learning experience. Keep an eye on this trend for the future.