Exploring the Role of AI in Supporting Construction Education: Trends, Applications, and Integration

The rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and automation have had a profound impact on industries; however, current educational programs frequently fail to keep pace with these developments. This research aims to address the gap in construction education by exploring how AI and Building Information Modeling (BIM) can be leveraged to incorporate automation and robotics. This paper uses quantitative (survey) and qualitative (article analysis) methods to bring a new understanding of the role of AI in supporting construction education, especially the trends, applications, and framework of robotics integration. The results indicate that safety and MEP are the subjects that can benefit best from AI-BIM integration. Additionally, exoskeletons and material-handling robots received the highest preference (mean = 3.103), emphasizing ergonomic support, labor efficiency, and worker safety. Higher education programs should partner with industries to provide hands-on training and internships to expose students to robotics applications in different fields. Open-source robotics kits for schools should be developed to encourage experimentation and innovation among students.