38 THE BUILDING CONSERVATION DIRECTORY 2025 CATHEDRAL COMMUNICATIONS artificial intelligence and machine learning ingenuities are being promoted. These, alongside an expanding, and sometimes confusing, lexicon of acronyms to introduce 4D, 5D, 6D, 7D and 8D BIM; BIMx; HBIM and HHBIM. Other emerging areas include robotics; the Cloud; edge gateways and the Internet of Things; smart technologies; public, private, consortium and hybrid blockchains; Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBie); digital twins, golden thread, OpenSpace, AI companions and ChatGPT. Progressing at pace with variable and, sometimes, considerable degrees of uptake in receptive industry sectors, there is also a cautionary unease emerging over regulations, privacy, security and potential weaknesses in data population, accuracy and longevity. So, how might such complex topics and endorsements expand to influence the future of building conservation? How far might they satisfy need, or will they emerge to significantly defy or disregard established conservation principles, practice and conventions? Fundamentally, the digital prerequisites of BIM, digital twins and other AI/IT initiatives inevitably call for increasingly detailed surveys of heritage assets to underpin their adoption and integration. To satisfy this, whilst also incorporating a historic asset’s complex physical construction, performance in use and fourth dimension of time, it seems inevitable that future data gathering specifications will demand escalating financial implications. Depending upon the required intensity of detailed data, this may become prohibitive in all but the most illustrious projects. Furthermore, a greater adoption of AI/IT and robotic intentions may necessitate additional, interim and future-proofing data handling and eventual archiving mandates. Combined with pragmatic, philosophical and ethical dilemmas for funding clients and operational practitioners, the financial consequences could be too great for many to accept. In consequence, any serious degree of uptake in AI/IT associated conservation activities is likely to emerge solely within the province of larger organisations. The risk of medium and small-scale projects being unable to support such considerations would seem inevitable. A two-tier approach to conservation would appear to be emerging. Here, a dividing line may be determined by affordability in the adoption of essential IT-related equipment, processing software, digital skills and operative knowledge. Client and pan-disciplinary professional complications are also likely to surface. Challenges include the secured longevity and future use of incorporated digital data, intellectual property rights and copyright ownership. In addition, the potential for digital manipulation and bias could arise with the adoption of AI/IT decision-making support systems, risking inappropriate reinterpretations or redefinitions of conservation authenticity and integrity. Any misapplication of historic evidence and data could be complex, interwoven and difficult to unravel from reality – creating a conservation equivalent of ‘fake news’. Inevitably, the impact on traditionally orientated building conservation activity is increasingly likely to challenge previous ways of working. A FUTURE IN BALANCE Despite current concerns, there is an imperative to consider what AI/IT and machine learning potentials might offer. As these become integrated across the wider construction sector, this is likely to generate a need for ongoing dialogue between varying cohorts of conservation professionals and AI/IT technological influencers. The aim should be to assist in understanding, adopting, adapting and integrating new with existing approaches. Across all disciplines, a challenge to the established philosophical and ethical base will be how to facilitate this as an additional benefit for historic assets. Fundamental adjustments will Obtaining an analogue understanding of historic developments, construction materials, previous repairs and maintenance can be an expensive prerequisite of any intention to create fully digitised and understood data. Within an integrated urban environment, legal, practical and operational complexities will emerge with any need to separately digitise data of an individually property.
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