'AI can make building inspections quicker, cheaper'
Artificial intelligence and robotics technology can help save time and money when inspecting old buildings, the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) said on Wednesday.  Speaking at a seminar, the HKIE’s building division chairman Tony Za said the recent spate of incidents involving falling concrete have sparked concerns about building safety, and highlighted a need for quicker ways to spot hazards.  "There are more than thousands of aged buildings in Hong Kong, and we see a rising trend. If we do not tackle maintenance issue properly, I think there will be more cases happening," he said.  Za said AI tools can help to analyse buildings and draw up preliminary reports within a short time, saving both time and costs for preliminary inspections.  "Traditionally, if we want to do an inspection of a building, we need to have a working scaffolding platform. It takes time to erect and dismantle," he said.  "Secondly, we need a man to climb up and down to do the manual surveying…By using this advanced technology, we can have a preliminary report in an instant, say within 10 days."  But Harris Sun, the CEO and founder of RaSpect Intelligence Inspection Limited, a company that specialises in AI inspection platforms, said the technology has its limitations.  He explained that AI would not be as useful past the preliminary inspection stage.  Sun added a mix of the technology and manual inspections would yield the best results.