AI Integration to Spur Innovations in Engineering Profession – Dr. Mudasiru Bola, NIHTE Secretary

Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The General Secretary of the Nigerian Institution of Highway and Transportation Engineers (NIHTE), Engr. Dr. Mudasiru Bola, has emphasized that combining artificial intelligence (AI) with human expertise will revolutionize the engineering profession, fostering greater innovation and efficiency.

Dr. Mudasiru made the disclosure while presenting a paper with the theme “The future of engineering in an AI dispensation: Opportunities, threats, and the way forward’ at the 2nd African Continental Engineering, Architecture, Constructions and Real Estate summit held in East Legion, Ghana on Thursday.

The expert posited that the advent of AI is transforming the engineering landscape and empowering professionals to streamline processes, enhance decision making, and drive innovations.

He said, ” As the world continues to continue to become digitalized, the integration of AI and digital tools are revolutionizing the way engineers approach their works, leading to greater efficiency, productivity, and problems solving.

” AI has captured the attention of world business leaders, scientists, engineers among other professionals seeking to create values in their services delivery through machines learning and other frontiers technologies.”

Dwelling on the indices of the topics, he explained that the opportunities in AI lies on Increased Efficiency which AI can automate routine tasks, freeing engineers to focus on complex, high-value tasks.Improved Accuracy as AI can analyze large datasets, reducing errors and improving design optimization.
Enhanced collaboration, saying AI can facilitate collaboration between engineers, stakeholders, and AI systems. Others are risk management, predictive analytics, etc.

Focusing on the threats AI possess, he mentioned Job Displacement and skills gap stressing that AI may displace certain engineering jobs, particularly those involving routine or repetitive tasks.Engineers may need to acquire new skills to remain relevant in an AI-driven industry.

Other of the threat factors he listed are Dependence on Data, Cybersecurity Risk, and Ethical Concerns, which raises ethical concerns, such as accountability, transparency, and bias.

According to him, the way forward is summarily on needs for skilled AI professionals, arguing that the engineering profession is on the brink of transformative era driven by AI technologies. Therefore, engineers must adapt upskilling and reskilling and should acquire new skills, such as AI, data science, and programming.

Dr. Mudasiru recapped that human AI collaboration is necessary for engineers to focus on developing skills that complement AI, such as creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

He reiterated that engineers should prioritize ethics and responsibility in AI development and deployment, commit to lifelong learning, and stay up-to-date with the latest developments in AI and engineering.

” The impact of AI in the market circle is undeniable presenting both challenges and opportunities, but while Ai has the potential to automate tasks and displace certain roles. It also creates new job opportunities in emerging fields like AI research, software development, and data science.

” To navigate this evolving landscape it’s crucial for individuals, companies and policymakers to embrace a lifelong learning, develop-in-demand skills, and implement robust strategies to ensure smooth transition and equitable distributions of the benefits of AI.”