How is AI Affecting Your Build?
There’s quite a bit of buzz about AI and the frequency we’re seeing it in our daily lives has become significant. So, how does AI affect what we do as builders and what should you expect as a homeowner?
There is a high likelihood, if not a guarantee, of engaging with AI at some point in your build or remodel. Some of those interactions may be in the planning and design phase of your project, estimating, construction documents and even the website content of the contractors you’re considering. In the next few articles we’ll take a look at each of these, how they impact residential construction and red flags to look out for.
“The rise of powerful AI will either be the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity.” -Stephen Hawking
Well, we happen to sit on this fence as well and admittedly both of my legs may be on the side of “the worst” at this moment in time, but I’m hopeful that my mind will be changed. Having to do with construction, let’s start with how AI might change what a builder’s website looks like. This is likely one of the first places you’ll start as you begin your planning for your new project.
In the past if you went to a builder’s website, you’d see content created by either the builder, their marketing company or even just the web hosting company’s stock templates and photos. While this may still be the case, AI has certainly taken a front seat in the development of these sites and most web hosting companies, marketing companies and even builders are using it.
The content written on sites can be easily created by AI software. For instance we use Squarespace as the host for our website, with a design and layout created by Kudzu Brands. With Squarespace we have the option to “improve” some of the descriptions and information on our site through their software. We could even have AI write entire blogs for us…but, we don’t. I can assure you the time savings would be great and much appreciated on our part. Trying to maintain a website and write articles while also managing the office and site work with our loaded build schedule is not always easy; and to be honest we don’t always get to it, because the bottom line is, our clients and their active projects are our priority. But I also have to admit, the time saving benefit is the full extent of our interest in AI content at this point.
Screenshot of the AI software provided by Squarespace
We are still quite hesitant to jump into this new world and prefer to create content in our authentic voice, (even if we’re stressing-out our account manager at Kudzu with our limited understanding of marketing faux pas.) In some instances it could take us just as long to review and confirm that the AI information is correct and truthful, as it would to simply write it ourselves. So, our grammar may not be perfect and maybe we didn’t find just the right way to convey a thought or idea, but when you read content on our site, you can be sure it came from an imperfect human instead of an imperfect AI software.
The same goes for our website. We do not use AI or stock images. All of the photos on our site were taken by us or the professional photographers we’ve used for some of our builds.
Why does any of this matter? If a builder is using photos of homes and remodels they didn’t complete or even worse, don’t exist because they were created by AI, then what can and should you expect from the builder if you hire them? If all of their content and blogs are written by AI, are you reading about their actual opinions and experiences? Are they offering examples of their skill and knowledge or simply using software to create the illusion of expertise.
Let’s be honest, most of the builders we know, including ourselves, may not be Pulitzer Prize quality writers or highly skilled photographers. Doesn’t it mean something though, to hear directly from them and see their work? It may not be perfect, but it’s authentic. Yes! It means a lot. It means you’re working with people who are proud of what they do and what they believe in when it comes to a quality project. It also gives you a good idea of what to expect when you’re building with them.
To be clear, we aren’t saying that sharing links to other articles, work or products is inauthentic or that using stock photos for images to convey a concept is dishonest. There’s so much good information out there and worth sharing with your visitors and clients. What we are saying is a good builder will use them responsibly, give credit where credit is due and research the information before they share it with you.
The downside to AI…you may not know if you’re getting real or artificial content. If you aren’t sure, ASK! Make sure you know who you’re working with. Even Plumb Level Square is not a completely AI free company. In some circumstances, you’ll read about in later posts, we don’t always have a choice. So many software companies have started integrating AI as part of the standard function of their product and you simply can’t exclude it. There are definitely instances, that when used responsibly and with caution, AI can be very beneficial. We’ll talk about some of those in future as well. In the meantime, look with curiosity at the content of the builders you’re considering hiring and make sure you’re getting the real picture.