Addressing the AI "Elephant"
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: AI. It’s easy to feel like this technology is encroaching on the trades, but I think the best way to approach it is by treating it like a high-end power tool. Just like a hydraulic bender makes our work more efficient but still requires a human to calculate the offsets, AI can process data, but it can’t replace your judgment on a job site.
As we move forward with our lab builds and curriculum, I want to pose this question to the group:
"As AI tools enter the trades—from automated load calcs to diagnostic chatbots—how do we use them to boost our efficiency without losing the 'durable' human skills of verification and safety?"
