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As artificial intelligence continues to top lists of both concern and opportunity for the engineering industry, ACEC Fall Conference attendees had the opportunity this morning to hear directly from one of the world’s leading experts on the subject.

For more than a decade, Didem Un Ates has been at the forefront of the creation of generative AI. At the same time, she has been one of the industry’s most forceful and passionate voices in favor of the technology being used and applied responsibly.

Un Ates began her presentation with an overview of AI: what it is, how it came about, and how it continues to evolve. To explain AI at its most basic, she compared it to a newborn baby just learning to see, comprehend and understand the world around him. “It’s watching a baby learn what is an orange and what is an apple and learning to be able to tell the difference,” she said.

But artificial generative AI is a whole other ballgame, as algorithms become more intelligent and begin to mimic more closely human cognitive and creative ability. On the question of when – not WHETHER, but WHEN – generative AI will surpass humans, Un Ates said, “We used to say around 2040. I think it’s closer – more like a couple of years. That’s why there’s no way to go back.”

And it was that prediction that informed the second part of Un Ates presentation, which she said was the most important takeaway for attendees: preparing our workforce to navigate this changed AI-driven landscape. It’s a nearly universal oversight among businesses, said Un Ates. “Very few [companies] are doing something with talent, which to me is very scary.”

By 2030, it is expected that 30 percent of hours worked will be automated. The future will belong to those who learn to leverage AI, and who take advantage of that extra time to reskill and upskill. And that future, said Un Ates, is getting closer by the day. In many ways, it’s already here – and employers and firms alike must adapt.

“Blocking employees from AI is not a strategy for survival. Look at talent transformation,” she said, “and start with yourself.”

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Date

October 22, 2024

Category

ACEC NEWS / FALL CONFERENCE

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