6 Comments

In my experience, current iterations of LLMs are best used as assistants to professionals rather than as professionals themselves.

I'm a software developer and LLM's have been helping me complete tasks faster for a year or so (Github Copilot). Since ChatGPT came out, I spend at least an hour a day actively engaged with it. Almost all of my conversations with it are not of the type where I'm asking it how to do something. They're almost always a back and forth exploration of various ways of solving problems.

Expand full comment

Absolutely fascinating, particularily the bit about the chatbot struggling with some questions that involve perception of actual physical space, which makes sense, since it's a text-based AI. Reminds me of how infants have an intuitive sense of physical forces. This chatbot could be combined with other AI models that HAVE been trained with those skills (i.e. PLATO)

Expand full comment

Architecture is a creative and problem solving process. AI is a long way off this, decades at least, and arguably could never do the creative component. Don't get sucked into the AI hype, it's just the tech industry's new toy to drive stock valuations.

Expand full comment

Brian, I asked ChatGPT some questions about your 1000 year house article .. specifically about the unreinforced and slow cure concrete .. it simply couldn’t answer any either of this should be done (subtract points) so I guess it’s not quite to snuff yet. But could you explain why an unreinforced concrete foundation is stronger and more durable and what this special mix is .. and/or does your solution only work with concrete piles? I’m not an engineer btw, just a layperson really interested in building and also interested in building the type of house you discussed.. thanks much

Expand full comment

Fascinating read. Thank you. Would love to see more of these topics and how the progress in the AEC industry is going to by impacted.

Expand full comment

Would be particularly interesting to explore what generative AI can do for design, across requirements / specs, documentation and DSO. Seems there’s scope for a big software tooling upgrade

Expand full comment