CAPITAL PROJECTS TECHNOLOGY ROADMAPPING INITIATIVE
ISSUES/BARRIERS One of the major barriers to automated and intelligent systems is a cultural one. Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of replacing human intelligence with “artificial intelligence,� due to factors such as labor sensitivity and aversion to risk. For this and other reasons, discussion of artificial intelligence has been replaced with discussions of how knowledge can be managed for productivity and cost benefit. Another barrier is the linkage to knowledge management, a topic that has attracted much trade press attention and funding. While much good has come from the movement, high expectations led to many disappointments and a view that much of the funding was wasted. The indiscriminate capture of everything known is not the goal. The goal should be the capture and organized representation of meaningful knowledge in a framework that allows it to be easily applied to better perform a specific job. An enabler for knowledge-based systems is a common understanding and vocabulary. There are efforts (such as the PlantSTEP initiative) to create a standard vocabulary, but this has proven to be a difficult task. A comprehensive ontology (understanding of terms and their context) is essential to providing a solid foundation for intelligent systems that are able to interact effectively. Availability and creation of knowledge is also an issue. In most of today’s advisor applications (like the spell-checker in a word-processing program), knowledge is simply captured in rule form from the experts. The ability of systems to learn from scientific principles, documents (operation instructions and procedures, etc.) and from experience in performing their functions, and then refine that knowledge for better decision-making, is vital.
MAJOR TASKS 1. Create a dictionary to capture meaning of terms and designs used for the construction industry. Enrich the dictionary beyond the definitions to an understanding of context. 2. Develop the automated ability to translate between the languages and standards used for different parts or tasks of a capital project (interoperability of terms and standards for knowledge representation). 3. Develop a broadly applicable knowledge repository framework and adopt standard methods for digitally capturing and representing knowledge. 4. Build learning mechanisms for capturing expertise relevant to the capital construction industry and for managing that knowledge via the repository. 5. Select high-priority applications and apply knowledge-based systems and intelligent control in automating the generation of design information and the control of related operations. 6. Build the knowledge bases, application-by-application and pilot-by-pilot, to systematically demonstrate value and feasibility of automated intelligent systems and processes in all aspects of the project life cycle.
BENEFITS Many examples of dramatic cost savings have been documented through the application of knowledgebased systems in different industries. Improved capabilities and widespread application will multiply these benefits. For individual applications (within specific domains of a capital project), automated information generation will reduce the time required for information-intensive tasks from weeks to days or hours. As the integrated advisory and design systems move to reality, these time spans will be reduced to mere minutes, with corresponding savings in labor cost and error avoidance. Intelligent systems also will reduce cost and schedule uncertainty, thereby reducing risks for the whole project. Intelligent systems and
January 2003
A-27