Survey on DX and AI Utilization in the Construction Industry: 20-30% Have Yet to Start DX, Generative AI Adoption Stays at 30%

Infomart (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Shin Kimura) has released the results of a survey regarding digital transformation (DX) and AI utilization among 1,040 construction industry employees.

Survey Summary - 33% of construction sites and 25% of back offices have not initiated digitalization or DX. - Generative AI adoption remains at approximately 30%, with usage variance based on company size. - Over half of AI users are confident in their future skill value, while non-users express uncertainty. - Besides writing and proofreading, AI is used for specialized construction tasks like cost estimation. - The primary challenge to AI adoption is a lack of specialized talent.

Status of DX Implementation For construction site management, 33.2% of respondents reported "not yet initiated," the highest share. For back-office roles, while "partial implementation/testing" was the most common response (40.1%), 24.9% remained at "not yet initiated." Less than 20% of all companies have implemented DX organizationally, highlighting that the industry is still in the middle of a transformation.

Generative AI Usage When asked about generative AI (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.), only 33.1% reported using it, significantly lower than the 55.2% average for Japanese companies. Furthermore, only 18.0% of companies have established official rules for AI, suggesting a lag in organizational guidance.

AI Adoption Sentiment and Hurdles Among generative AI users, 53.5% believe their skills will retain value in the future, viewing AI as a partner. In contrast, only 25.3% of non-users share this confidence, revealing a "psychological polarization" regarding the future. Top challenges for AI adoption included "lack of specialized talent who can manage/use AI (26.9%)," "unclear use cases (26.1%)," and "concerns about accuracy (24.6%)."

Expert Viewpoint Shigeru Ishikura, General Manager of Data & AI Lab, stated that "to effectively use AI, it is essential to provide opportunities to overcome anxieties through success and to maintain a structured data environment where AI can perform at its peak." Digitizing business transactions and centralizing them on a platform serves as the foundation for improving AI accuracy.