Sharing AI Insights with the Faculty of Construction in Bucharest

I had the pleasure of speaking to the professors at the Faculty of Construction about practical applications of Artificial Intelligence. It was an amazing opportunity to discuss efficiency, optimization, and how AI can transform interior design and data analysis.

Faculty Presentation
AI Discussion
Presentation Slides

A big thank you to Anula Cosoiu for the invitation and the chance to share these ideas!

My slides follows (Romanian). See below for an English summary of my presentation (and also the complete two hours transcript).

Here's the full video (Youtube) (Romanian). Full English transcript after the video (automatically generated from video).

My speech summary

Introduction

  • Scenario: A client requested 100 interior design variants in 20 styles (5 variants/style).
  • Challenge: Completing this using traditional tools would take too long.
  • Solution: Leveraged AI (ChatGPT) for faster results, completing the task in 145 minutes at 0.046 cents/project.

Main Ideas

1. Interior Design with AI

  • Process: Started with a blank room, iteratively added designs in styles like Bohemian, Scandinavian, Modern, etc.
  • Technical Fix: Used "inpainting" to restrict changes to specific areas while preserving room integrity.
  • Example: Adjusted a Bohemian-style room by replacing a plant with a painting in seconds.

2. Limitations

  • Issues:
    • ChatGPT only allows inpainting on AI-generated images.
    • Difficulty in handling edits for real photos.
  • Solutions: Use specialized apps for inpainting and interior design.

3. Data Analysis and Optimization

  • Scenario: Bridge sensors collected data (e.g., displacement, deformation, temperature, traffic volume).
  • AI Tasks:
    • Detected outliers via Python scripts auto-generated by ChatGPT.
    • Created visualizations like box plots and histograms for data interpretation.
    • Suggested correlations between variables (e.g., strain vs. vehicle weight).

4. Brainstorming and Creativity

  • AI explored creative solutions for challenges like product packaging, layout optimization, and marketing strategies.
  • Example: AI agents proposed innovative retail inventory solutions, such as spring-loaded platforms and QR-code alerts.

5. What AI Is and Isn't

  • Misconceptions:
    • AI is not a database or a conscious entity; it processes numeric representations (latent space).
  • Capabilities:
    • Predicts patterns and generates outputs based on training.
    • Excels at emulating creativity and assisting repetitive tasks.

6. Practical Use Cases

  • Applications for AI:
    1. Writing code.
    2. Summarizing content.
    3. Translating with context.
    4. Generating tailored prompts.
    5. Enhancing customer support (via ReAct or CoT prompting).

Call to Action

  • Start exploring AI responsibly:

    • Use premium models for better reliability (avoid free/low-quality versions).
    • Focus on effective prompting techniques (e.g., Chain of Thought, self-consistency).

  • Free AI Course: Visit curs.viorelspinu.com for lessons on practical AI use.

Key Message

AI isn't here to replace us—it's here to enhance creativity, save time, and unlock new opportunities.