Corporate Digital Responsibility in Construction Engineering: Ethical Principles in Dealing With Digitization and AI

Methodology

In terms of the scientific method of research, this study applies the qualitative method for systematic data generation through partially standardized scientific questionnaires – obtained by the extract of survey questions to include personal and written interview surveys of the representative selection of respondents. In addition, corporate Use Cases support a careful and thorough analyzation. As a result of the high demand in both technological development and value-based decision-making, CDR in construction came into focus as a feasible holistic approach to realize human-led digitization and AI. CDR reviews status quo, requirements, new technologies, interdisciplinary interfaces, current research, the design of practical implementation and its ethical framework by law. To efficiently search for approaches for the successful, sustainable digital transformation of this unique industry, such analysis of methods, using intelligence to ease human work that is morally oriented, helps to reveal and develop ethical principles. A key consideration in the ethical impact on AI is trusted human-centered engineering for a sustainable digital transformation and AI to enrich the value chain.

This study follows an embedded ethics approach in the development of AI, the “Ethics by design”, that embeds the ethical aspects from the very beginning - including moral questions, aspects of value, and search for meaningful application. Ethics is an integral part of AI development, since AI is developed, designed, and used by humans. AI technologies will assist and ease human work. In Germany, this form of ethics in engineering is referred to as “Technical Ethics”. Clear distinction between human and artificial intelligence is a mandatory requirement to enable definition of risks, potential, and areas of application. It is human intelligence that programs, guides, controls, corrects, manages, and maintains AI.

The evaluation of the interview questionnaires results in the conclusion that, to effectively identify ethical guidelines, research and science must signal a strong need for ethical standards and binding rules must be set on the political level. The educational landscape has to be adjusted to provide engineers with ethical, multidisciplinary competencies in addition to improved professional skills, designed for dealing with digitization and AI.