Analogies between AI and Wooden buildings

Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay

Since almost ten years, I have been doing a yearly guest lecture at my old university. In the beginning of my presentation, I use a couple of slides where I demonstrate Moore´s law, and how the fastest supercomputer on Earth was beaten by a Playstation less than ten years later. Then I move on to demonstrate where we are now and a hint where we are going. I usually look up what is the state of the art shortly before the lecture, and every time I notice that the monster computer that was the king of the hill, was already old news. And indeed, progress is accelerating. But what does this have to do with wooden constructions?

It should be obvious by now that a crucial skill for the future will be flexibility. We cannot even predict what the world will look like in ten years and perhaps not even five. We must be able to adapt and use the new tools at our disposal. Development is now so fast, that if you enroll in certain education programs and study for five years, the examen will only have a “shelf life” that is shorter than the time it takes to graduate. Whereas a couple of decades ago, you studied and then you could ride on your education all the way to retirement. Honestly, I personally wonder if retirement even exists as a concept in the 2030s and 2040s with the population collapse that is going on? Demographic pyramids that are upside down are not a pretty thing. On the other hand, maybe this could be where AI can help us out. The only thing that is certain is that we will find out soon.

Back to the topic – flexibility. The ones who will make it in the fourth industrial revolution are the ones who can adapt. And when you are working with timber building, that is exactly the skill you will be honing every day. As an acoustician, I have been in this game as a self employed consultant since 2019 and it has been an intense ride. Often, there are no off-the-shelf solutions to given problems. And even when there are, you can almost guarantee that you will discover some new acoustic phenomena that you didn’t think about. It is difficult or impossible to find precise calculation models so you often have to develop your own. But you will never know for sure whether they work or not until the finished building is erected and you have done the sound measurements yourself.

I think of it as walking in new terrain in deep snow. There are no tracks to follow, and you must therefore make your own and learn to navigate. And that is the skill that will be increasingly useful in our quickly changing world. That is also exactly why I enjoy working with wooden buildings so much. I am “future proofing” myself. I have also noted that many other people in this business seem to have the same innovative, creative, and fearless mindset. Simply put, it is a very nice place to be.