Dive Brief:
- Skanska unveiled a generative AI chatbot last month that it calls Sidekick to help employees at the company plumb the firm’s collective expertise on projects and problems, the company told Construction Dive.
- Built on the same technology as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, users can ask the large language model questions, to which it responds with answers based on a collection of internal data that will remain within Skanska’s proprietary cloud, per the company.
- The product is intended for internal use by Skanska employees and will not be sold commercially, the company told Construction Dive. The firm has been using the chatbot across its enterprise since December.
Dive Insight:
Will Senner, the data solutions leader for Skanska USA Building, told Construction Dive the company’s emphasis on the chatbot’s security came amid high-profile breaches at other corporations, such as Samsung’s data leak on ChatGPT.
The team’s goal when designing the model was to allow users to ask questions without the fear of accidentally leaving sensitive information in the public domain.
“We really wanted to focus on getting a tool available to our people where we could provide a secure environment,” Senner said.
The company said employees across market sectors and projects are leveraging it on jobs and projects. It also plans to build out functionality and add more features and use cases as time goes on.
Skanska isn’t the only company that has looked at emerging technologies like artificial intelligence — the tools have dominated builders' attention across the country.
In addition, organizations including Associated Builders and Contractors and firms such as DPR Construction are sharing Skanska’s cautious approach to using the technology. DPR recently issued a report advocating for careful application of AI in construction.
