"The Manualwriter" v AI
It’s the twenty-first century, not the nineteenth and AI is here to stay - Use it as a tool or be left behind by those who do.
Consider what happens on a real construction project.
Six different versions of an electrical schematic. An obsolete data sheet, a commissioning sheet
Referring to equipment that apparently isn't in the asset schedule, three subcontractors who haven't submitted their information
An architect's specification describing what should have been installed
As-fitted drawing showing something completely different.
AI will put some types of O&M manual writers out of work.
AI systems specifically aimed at UK O&M production already claim they can classify subcontractor documents, extract equipment, populate asset registers, produce maintenance schedules and generate sections of O&M manuals.
So, the part of the industry based mainly on collecting PDFs, renaming them, filing them and assembling standard sections is unquestionably vulnerable.
But that isn't the whole job.
AI is exceptionally good at repetitive work: sorting manufacturers' literature, extracting model numbers, creating first-draft equipment descriptions, summarising technical information, producing standard maintenance tables and checking documents for missing information.
The technical-writing profession is already moving that way.
A recent survey found 62% of technical communicators use AI regularly or daily, with AI particularly useful for first drafts, reviewing material and processing rough source information. Interestingly, the same research says the work is shifting rather than simply disappearing
AI increases the importance of reviewing, structuring and validating what has been produced.
“AI gets the silicon. We get to make it happen.”
It cannot reliably determine which information represents the actual building, chase the right people, recognise that the design intent has quietly changed, understand the contractual significance of missing information, decide what shouldn't be stated without evidence, and ultimately take professional responsibility for presenting a coherent record of the completed works.
That's technical authorship. Indeed, established O&M businesses are adopting AI while retaining technical authors.
AI as something that assists in producing manuals while retaining a tailored approach.
AI can’t lay cables in the ground or put luminaires on the ceiling and it can’t replace the experience of someone who understands why they’re there.
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