AI and digital tech reshape infrastructure design amid resource pressures
Ali Jadbabaie, head of MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, says AI and faster sensing are beginning to change engineering design even as AI’s energy needs and aging grids create challenges; he argues that redesigning how infrastructure is financed and operated — discussed at the World Infrastructure Forum — is necessary to meet rising global demand without repeating 20th-century resource use.
BONES’ AI PERSPECTIVE
AI-assisted summary of the linked sourceJadbabaie warns that climate change, resource limits and geopolitical instability are increasing pressure on infrastructure while demand rises in developing countries; he and MIT cofounded the World Infrastructure Forum to coordinate multidisciplinary solutions and say AI and digital transformation could make design faster and cheaper, though the final outcomes remain uncertain.