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When it comes to roadworks, there are various factors to consider when deciding when and whether or not to proceed with the repair work for some roads. For example it might not be a busy road so it could be low in priority when it comes to sending people out to get it fixed, and then there are also things like cost to consider.

For the most part these decisions are made by humans which can sometimes be inefficient, which is why researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed an AI (via Engadget) that could potentially make road maintenance a more efficient process. While aimed at road maintenance for now, the AI could also potentially be expanded to cover bridge and building maintenance as well.

So how does this work? Basically through images that can be taken via services like Google Street View or photos taken by workers, the AI can detect and flag issues such as potholes, cracks, and defects. This can lead to lowered assessment costs and also timely repairs, which are great because they can product uniform results.

According to John Zelek, an engineering professor at Waterloo, “If governments have that information, they can better plan when to repair a particular road and do it at a lower cost.” He adds, “It is more consistent analysis because you’re not introducing the biases of different human beings who look at the data differently.” This is actually not the first time AI has been used for repair work. The US Army recently announced that they would use AI to predict when to make repairs to vehicles.

Filed in . Read more about AI (Artificial Intelligence).