July 29, 2024 Engineering Standards at the AI Crossroads

Organizations can streamline the creation of industry standards by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms.

By Jim Thomas, Chief Partnership Officer at Accuris

In today’s engineering landscape, traditional industry stalwarts, some with histories spanning over a century, are reinventing themselves. As with most industries, artificial intelligence (AI) has entered the conversation, and it’s already helping engineers find information and complete tasks faster so they can dedicate more brainpower to innovation.

But when it comes to one of the most time-consuming engineering tasks of all – the development of engineering standards – many leaders are still unsure how AI should play a role.   

Engineering standards are the documents that establish technical specifications and guidelines for products and services. Standards are in place for just about everything. They’re necessary to keep us safe and enable technologies to work the way they’re supposed to.

However, many of the organizations and individuals who create these standards find themselves at a crossroads – both with the challenges in developing standards and the tools that can help.  

How engineering standards are created

If you’re not involved in standards creation, you might be surprised to learn that engineering standards are created and revised by volunteers. These volunteers help determine the technical details, processes, and best practices that ensure critical elements like product compatibility, user safety, and data protection.

Standards development organizations (SDOs) bring together a broad range of volunteers from different technical and geographic points of origin into technical committees or “working groups.” These working groups are open to anyone and foster a collaborative environment where diverse perspectives enrich the process of standards development. However, attracting and retaining volunteers for developing and revising standards has always been challenging – even more so today.

An aging workforce means that many industries are losing veteran volunteers, creating knowledge gaps and impacting the timely creation and revision of standards. Standards development itself is a long-term commitment, demanding sustained effort from volunteers. Maintaining existing standards requires a consistent team, which can be difficult with a volunteer model.

Given the ongoing challenges associated with standards development, the industry needs to alter existing practices and procedures to streamline the standards creation process.

This brings us back to the original question – how can AI help?

Augmenting human expertise with AI

AI tools, including machine learning (ML) and generative AI, can supplement human expertise in the creation of engineering standards. They can help quickly review massive amounts of information, generate technical language and check accuracy.

AI and ML are most effective in the presence of large data sets, where the technology can evaluate information and synthesize such data to provide recommendations. SDOs are rich with years of historical data —making them ideal candidates for the application of AI and ML. AI algorithms can help volunteers sort through millions of pages of previous standards and codes and share versions of standards as they change. Information-gathering tasks, previously taking days or weeks, can now be completed in minutes with AI and ML resources. 

While AI tools are remarkable, it’s important for organizations to remember that they aren’t human replacements. While AI can surpass volunteers in the processing of sheer volume, it lacks the ability to truly understand the nuances of specific engineering applications. This is where humans should step in.

Practical experience from years in the field, ensures that standards translate seamlessly from theory to real-world scenarios. Human oversight remains paramount. Engineers can guarantee that AI-generated standards adhere to the highest ethical and legal principles and promote responsible practices to stay within the bounds of relevant regulations.

Rewriting the rulebook: the bridge between old and new

As expected, some industries are still resistant to their standards being processed with AI tools – and understandably so. Others are becoming more open to it as they begin to see how useful it can be. Over the coming years, we believe SDOs will become more open to using AI – because they’ll have to.

Once AI resources become more prevalent and SDOs and engineers recognize value and trust their reliability, this aversion will begin to dissolve. AI integration into standards development can be a positive step to streamline the process. These tools make the development of standards less tedious and more efficient, which could be the key to attracting a new generation of volunteers to technical committees.

AI-powered solutions can be the bridge between the old and the new. By demonstrating the power of AI to streamline processes, keep consistency, and even identify potential flaws or required changes in standards themselves, these solutions can pave the way for a future where AI isn’t just accepted by SDOs, but actively sought after.

By striking the right balance between human expertise and AI automation capabilities, we can ensure the future of standards creation is not just innovative, but also inclusive and engaging to fundamentally reshape the landscape of standards development.

Jim Thomas is the Chief Partnership Officer at Accuris. He is responsible for developing and executing partnership strategies for current and future strategic partners of the organization including Standards Development Organizations, National Bodies of Standards, channel partners, government, and other industry partners.​ Prior to his role at Accuris, Jim was Chief Revenue Officer & Vice President of Global Sales, Partnerships, and Content Product Development at S&P Global Engineering Solutions. In this role, he oversaw an international staff of sales and product management professionals positioned to sell industry-critical content, create global partnerships, increase revenue, and expand market visibility to ultimately develop a culture of customer-driven workflow efficiencies. ​

Jim began his career as a regional sales associate at IHS Inc. in 1999. From account management to product creation to customer partnerships and revenue growth, he learned the engineering sales business from end to end. Prior to joining S&P Global in 2022, Jim held several roles within ASTM International over 16 years. He worked to create an international sales team, designed a customer service group, developed a new product development department with corresponding go-to-market products, and expanded ASTM’s international marketing strategy. Responsible for over 80% of ASTM’s overall revenue budget, Jim developed a system that produced significant annual growth year over year while mentoring staff to excel in their respective roles. ​

Jim leads with a vision geared towards market growth, leveraging new opportunities with existing international partners to further promote overall industry quality and safety. He is driven by a strong passion for team development and global partner opportunities with respect to business growth and sustainability, all while keeping an eye on emerging markets and technologies and digital transformation.​

Jim holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor’s Degree from Millersville University of Pennsylvania.​

For more information, please visit: Accuris | (accuristech.com)

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