Artificial intelligence in BIM
As the optimisation of the structure was now completed, I started to research artificial intelligence (AI) in BIM to decipher whether we could incorporate it in some way into the pavilion project.
AI in architecture is still very new, however, developing rapidly. Its the idea of rather than doing things manually, or rather than being pre-programmed, the system is able to train and improve itself based on experience. Nicholas Nepgroponte states in ‘The Architecture Machine’, that the relationship between the architect and the computer is ‘not of master and slave, but rather, two associates that have potential and desire for self improvement’. Imagine a world were your colleague is a computer, that suggest design and structural alternatives to one you’ve produced.
Rory Hyde states in ‘Architecture in the coming age of Artificial Intelligence’…
‘Does the ‘A’ in CAD live up to its promise? Our architectural machines cannot think for themselves, let alone aid us, as the acronym suggests’.
Parametric design has given us opportunities never possible with pen and paper, such as optimisation and analysis, but I personally believe CAD programs have a lot of room to grow, or even the relationship between CAD and parametric design.
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As of right now, I do not believe I could develop a system that will be able to find a set of tasks, rules and processes and be able to execute them autonomously and more efficiently than humans, which is what AI is said to do within architecture in the coming years. However, I want to take this ideal of AI in BIM, and create a system that make computers do the time consuming tasks automatically.
An idea that caught my eye in ‘The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM and It’s Coming Faster Than You Think’ by Autodesk University is the notion of live PDFs in the cloud. Manually exporting PDF sheets of the project is time consuming and has to be done with every update. I believe this is a process that can be ruled out and a system could be developed that links REVIT SHEETS > FLUX > CLIENTS/TEAM MEMBERS.
The cloud PDF would be live, and would change with each updated design, or update every hour for example. The clients and team members would be able to view the development of the design from start to finish, which has been a problem in the pavilion task.
The BIM team has currently created a workflow from RHINO > REVIT, and also Excel > Flux > Grasshopper > Flux > Revit. These workflows and the information gathered by my colleges will help in the development of the live PDF system.
Currently, this is only a concept, but I believe it would be extremely useful in this project and also future projects if it was successful.
