Automatable

A task performed by Civil Engineers

Estimate quantities and cost of materials, equipment, or labor to determine project feasibility.

R&D OpportunityWorkers want it · AI can't yet

Not yet. Workers want this automated (3.25/5), but experts rate today's AI capability at only 3/5, the technology isn't there. It's an R&D Opportunity.

Worker desire to automate3.3/5

How much the people who do this task want AI to take it over (avg of 8 workers).

AI capability today3.0/5

How capable experts rate current AI at this task (avg of 3 experts).

How much human involvement should stay?

The Human Agency Scale (H1–H5) captures how much human direction workers think this task should keep.

H3Equal human–AI partnership

Why workers want this automated

  • Frees up time for higher-value work63%
  • It's repetitive50%
  • Helps handle larger scale50%
  • Reduces human error38%
  • It's stressful25%
  • It's difficult13%

How to automate this

Workers want this gone, but today's tools only get part of the way. Automate the edges.

Calculations & estimates

Turn the math into a reusable calculator.

  1. 1Build a spreadsheet model so estimates update from the inputs.
  2. 2Use the calculators already built into your industry software.
  3. 3Check with formulas instead of recomputing by hand.

Tools that can help

Excel / Google SheetsIndustry calculatorsAI for sanity checks

Know a better way, or spot an error?

Share how you automate this in real life, or correct the data. Reviewed before publishing.

This is 1 of 5 tasks studied for Civil Engineers, where workers want 60% of tasks automated.

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