Hot take: I watched a video about a new AI that can spot tiny cracks in concrete, and everyone in the comments missed the point. | AI Innovations

Fiona Lopez · 2026-04-05T13:45:05.416784+00:00

The video was from a civil engineering firm in Chicago, and they were using a model trained on over 10,000 images to find flaws before they get big. People kept arguing about it taking jobs, but the real thing is it stops bridges from failing, which is way bigger. Has anyone else seen a case where folks focus on the wrong worry with a new AI tool?

noahw536mo ago

What's the dumbest worry you've seen?

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the_piper6mo ago

Wait, they trained it on ten thousand pictures? That's a crazy amount of data just for finding cracks. People are yelling about jobs, but that's a machine that learned from ten thousand broken things to stop people from getting hurt. It's like being mad at a really good flashlight for showing you the pothole you're about to step in.

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zara_allen4mo ago

...and I'm over here still trying to get a straight line on my fence posts, so trust me, I get it. The dumbest worry I've seen? Probably people saying the AI will start making bridges look ugly or something. Like, who cares? I can't even code a toaster, let alone a bridge-sniffing robot, but I bet these same folks would be the first to complain when a bridge cracks and they gotta take a detour. It's just funny how everyone's a critic about a tool that's literally saving lives, but nobody's worried about the potholes that swallow their tires whole.

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